


it’s not too late

by shin_splints



Category: ITZY (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hunger Games Setting, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-05
Updated: 2020-07-29
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:08:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 28,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23489599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shin_splints/pseuds/shin_splints
Summary: shin ryujin had always known that she was going to die
Relationships: Shin Ryujin/Shin Yuna
Comments: 6
Kudos: 59





	1. Chapter 1

shin ryujin had always known that she was going to die. it was only a matter of time, she surmised, before her luck ran out and she could cheat death no longer. there wasn’t always going to be a knight in shining armour to her rescue, like the kind, frail old man who had taken her into his care when she was abandoned and starving on the streets at 2 years of age. she wasn’t always going to have lady luck shining down on her, as when the gang of robbers who raided their home instantly slit the old man’s throat but decided to spare her life out of pity.

what shin ryujin had never expected was for her death to come in such a high-profile manner. in fact, many looked upon such a death as courageous and honourable, to the extent of more than a few individuals voluntarily throwing themselves into the slaughterhouse.

shin ryujin was going to die in the hunger games.

as she made her way towards the stage, the sense of relief amongst the audience was palpable, but ryujin fully understood. better an orphan with no friends or family perish than someone who actually had something to live for...

~

shin ryujin had always known that she was going to die. what she had absolutely never expected, though, was that she would meet such a gory, gruesome end. the ‘highlights’ of the previous editions of the hunger games she had just watched still fresh in her mind, she retched involuntarily, waves of nausea surging through her body.

fuck. ryujin was seriously contemplating if it would be favourable to simply swallow a handful of nightlock in the arena and at least dying a painless, quick death.

that couldn’t possibly be worse than the fate suffered by the poor girl who had her head ripped apart from her neck by a district 3 brute; or the boy who had been strapped tightly to a tree while a deranged district 5 female tribute used her teeth to rip off his flesh slowly piece by piece; heck, there had even been a psycho who collected the eyeballs of all the tributes he had killed and ate them while chuckling maniacally after his victory.

“how are you feeling?” ryujin’s district 10 mentor, julia, smiled sympathetically at her from across the table.

“that...sneak peek of how i’m gonna die...definitely whetted my appetite,” ryujin pushed her untouched plate of pancakes and scrambled eggs away.

“at least you’re handling this better than ethan is.”

ryujin merely scoffed. the poor boy who had been reaped along with her had burst into tears on the spot and not long ago, had to be forced apart from his similarly disconsolate family to board the one-way train ride to his coffin. their first interaction had been when the sniffling boy had offered her a snot-covered hand to shake, which she was like, totally not accepting. well, she did offer a curt nod at the very least. ryujin wasn’t entirely heartless.

“do you know how i won the games?” julia clasped her hands together and leaned forward in her seat.

“you weren’t in the video.”

“that’s because my victory was anything but highlight-worthy,” julia smiled somewhat ruefully. “no one gave me a chance. i had no fighting experience, no sponsors, no allies, but one thing i could do was hide. i hid myself successfully for 4 days while everyone else wiped each other out until only me and this district 4 couple were left in the arena. one night, when i was forced out of my hiding place after the gamemakers sent the mutts after me, i chanced upon a small cave and had half a mind to spend the night there when i heard weird noises. eventually, i realised they were...you know. so i sneaked up on them both, grabbed a sword from the ground and just stabbed them both as many times as i could till long after they had both died.”

ryujin nodded slowly, trying to process whatever she had just been told.

“basically, I’m telling you, don’t give up without a fight, you’ll be surprised by what you are capable of when your life is on the line.”

“you must’ve been an unpopular winner, huh?”

julia laughed heartily. “unpopular is putting it kindly, considering i robbed the gamemakers and the viewers of the inevitable drama of the last two standing being a couple. on a more serious note, i’m not just trying to brag about my victory, there’s a very important lesson to be learnt from it. i need you to understand and abide by it strictly. only then will you stand any chance in the games.”

ryujin raised her eyebrows. “well, fire away.”

“you do not, i repeat, do not, get emotionally attached to anyone in the hunger games.”

~

for someone who was going to die in a matter of days, ryujin felt strangely at peace. if anything, she was even somewhat thankful that she had been given the chance to experience luxury at least once in her life. (at the cost of her lifespan coming to a close, but still.)

for one, the food was like nothing she had ever imagined. as someone who had essentially spent her entire life consuming staples like bread and rice, ryujin did not expect herself to have rich taste. alas, premium beef, escargots and sashimi proved her very wrong.

perhaps even more importantly, the girls were fine. with a capital f. regrettably, ryujin wasn’t exactly a social butterfly capable of hitting girls up at will, so she settled for appreciating the visual overload while consuming her meal alone. 

she watched sharon from district 1 burst into a fit of giggles at something her district partner had said, slapping his arm repeatedly; ivy from district 5 picking at her food moodily, and wasn’t there this other cute korean career tribute she had noticed earlier...

“hey, may i join you?” a preppy voice jolted ryujin from her people-watching daze.

welp. in front of her stood cute korean girl, smiling so brightly and brilliantly at her that ryujin felt as if she was staring directly into the sun. she may even have begun squinting reflexively, it was that overwhelming. 

cute korean girl cocked her head to one side and raised her eyebrows, and it was only then that ryujin realised she had been staring both blatantly and dumbly for the longest time. “oh, um, sure! please, no problem, um, take a seat.”

wow, real smooth, ryujin. where was a hole in the ground when you needed to sink into it and disappear into the depths of the earth...

instead of turning tail and avoiding the awkward, ineloquent idiot that was ryujin, cute korean girl simply beamed once again and settled into the seat opposite her.

“shin ryujin, right?” 

ryujin nodded, unsure how to respond. however, she didn’t need to know how to respond to cute girl’s next action, as her body seemed to act on its own accord. because cute girl pouted. she fucking pouted. and her heart may or may not have skipped a beat as a result.

“i don’t know if you just have a resting bitch face or if i’m bothering you.”

“mostly my face, probably, but you are bothering me,” ryujin paused to take in the half-offended, half-disbelieving expression etched on cute girl’s face and grinned before continuing. “mainly because you’re too pretty.”

she wasn’t sure where this sudden bravado and confidence had sprung up from. it was either the fact that she had absolutely nothing to lose from flirting recklessly when her death was imminent in a few days’ time or she was encouraged by cute girl seemingly being interested in starting up a conversation with her.

cute girl’s lips curved upwards. “you’re not too shabby yourself, ryujin. by the way, i’m shin yuna from district 2 and boy am i glad to meet a fellow korean here.”

“i would be glad too if we had more than a few days to get to know each other before i die.”

“don’t say that...” yuna pouted again, and ryujin concluded that as long as she saw a few more of those up close, she could die happy.

“unfortunately, its a forgone conclusion unless you protect me from your scary career friends.” ryujin fluttered her eyelashes teasingly, but was taken aback when yuna nodded vigorously.

“they think of me as an ally but i don’t think of them as allies, if you know what i mean.”

“does that mean you’re a backstabbing bitch who i shouldn’t trust as well?”

“maybe it just means i’m more interested in allying with you.” yuna offered her hand to ryujin to shake, wearing a somewhat hopeful expression.

ryujin didn’t take it. “why me, though? i have no skills and i’m not gonna be able to charm the audience.”

“the heart wants what it wants, so stop asking so many questions and shake my hand.”

~

the first thing ryujin saw upon stepping foot into the practice arena was an arrow whizzing past her and nestling itself into the heart of a human dummy. jesus christ. she made eye contact with the district 12 male, ashley, who had just hit the target with unerring accuracy. he smirked smugly at her. evidently, even the non-careers were no pushovers.

the practice arena was intimidating, to say the least. the district 4 career tributes, lance and carol were throwing knives with frightening speed and accuracy, the downright mortifying district 1 male tribute, aragone, was absolutely pummelling a punching bag which thus continually swung wildly and there was even someone swinging deftly between the branches of the makeshift trees. great. just great. even fucking tarzan would be out to get her. 

as unsettling as their skill levels were, ryujin wasn’t really interested in any of the tributes aside from a certain pretty blonde girl, who she found...playing golf?

“hey, ryu!” yuna exclaimed happily as she swung the stick she held with both hands hard, driving the ball straight into the goal effortlessly. 

“is this some weird career tribute method of killing people?” ryujin asked half-teasingly, half-curiously.

“what the hell, no! you can’t possibly not know what floorball is, right?”

yuna clucked her tongue upon seeing the confused expression on ryujin’s face. “its a sport, you dummy. the best sport in the world. i won many awards back in my district, you know?”

“ok, showoff, i get the point. but is floorball really going to help you survive in the arena?”

“i just wanted to have some fun doing the things i love most in the world before we all descend into savagery,” yuna looked serious for once, an air of melancholy surrounding her.

ryujin didn’t think it was the right time to ask, but there was a pressing question on the tip of her tongue that she couldn’t hold back any longer. “didn’t you like...volunteer to participate in the games? i would have expected you to be cold-blooded, ruthless and determined to win but you seem so relaxed.”

yuna smiled weakly in response. “if volunteering means being forced to train for the games since young, then i suppose i did.”

upon meeting ryujin’s earnest eyes urging her to continue, yuna sighed. “back in my district, they forced each family to send one child for special training to eventually become a career tribute. i was an only child. they took me when i was three, and i haven’t seen my family since. most people buy into the narrative of volunteering as tribute being glorious and prestigious, but i hated it. that’s why i spent most of my time playing floorball instead of acquiring combat or survival skills.”

“that’s...horrible. i’m sorry.”

“don’t be, it is what it is. anyway, even though i didn’t train as much as the rest, i’m no slouch with these bad boys.” yuna abandoned her stick and led ryujin to a collection of axes. “let’s get you up to speed, shall we?”

~

ryujin was going to have to kill someone. two someones, to be exact. she couldn’t imagine it or wrap her head around that fact. how could any human being live with blood on their hands? 

as the first tribute to be assessed by the gamemakers, aragone certainly didn’t seem to have much reservations if any, grabbing both the poor, scared, butt naked human puppets by their necks and slamming their heads together relentlessly until his entire body was drenched in their blood. he even looked satisfied with his handiwork, the heartless, inhuman monster.

up next, sharon at least spared the humans from long, drawn-out suffering, a firm slit to each throat also earning her a score of 10 nonetheless. yuna’s district partner, eric strangled both humans to death simultaneously, earning himself a score of 9. 

the more ryujin watched, the more her stomach lurched and the more despondent she felt. what had the world come to? how could the deaths of these innocent human beings with their entire lives ahead of them be justified at all? they had families to feed, dreams to pursue and people they loved. they had something to fight for. they practically deserved the gift of life more than ryujin did.

ryujin shook her head, trying to clear the convoluted mess of thoughts swirling around within her head. she glanced back at the arena and almost instantly became transfixed by the sight of yuna striding into the arena. yuna smiled sheepishly at the two humans and bowed, almost as if she was apologising, before they went charging straight at her. 

in a matter of seconds, both humans lay motionless on the ground, knives protruding from their chests. ryujin hadn’t realised she had been holding her breath. it was a reminder that for all that yuna was an absolute baby around her, she did possess a trained, professional, battle-hardened side to her. (ryujin’s not gonna lie, it was lowkey hot as fuck)

“that’s my badass girl!” eric hollered, throwing his arm around yuna’s shoulder and pulling her way too close to himself for comfort.

what the fuck. the emotion that hit ryujin hard like a truck was something she had never experienced before. it was rage searing through her body in massive waves that required every ounce of her self-restraint in order for herself to not be consumed in the deep, dark, fiery red that was all she could see. 

the greasy fucker would not take his hands off yuna. ryujin took deep breaths and focused intently on each and every massacre unfolding before her eyes rather than watching yuna get smothered by that disgusting, sorry excuse of a human being. 

“shin ryujin of district 10, please step forward.” 

ryujin snapped out of her rage-induced stupor and strode forward with a startling clarity. she pictured the two humans before her as eric, gripped the axe as tightly as possible and swung wildly, completely unhinged.

when the red mist finally cleared, ryujin recoiled in shock at the nauseating sight before her, both bodies maimed and disfigured beyond recognition. she didn’t understand. how had her most savage instincts been awoken out of the blue, just like the flick of a switch? she staggered clumsily away from the bloody mess she had created, only to be greeted by the sight of yuna wincing as eric’s hand wandered naughtily across the expanse of her body. it was then, when ryujin began viewing the world through red-tinted goggles again, that it hit her square in the face. it was then ryujin realised that she, in fact, did have something to fight for. more specifically, someone.

~

they met again on the rooftop that night, the final night before all hell would break loose. ryujin claimed it was a coincidence, that she simply couldn’t sleep and decided to get some fresh air. no, it definitely wasn’t because yuna had told her earlier that she spent hours on the rooftop each night before she slept. yuna smiled knowingly, but simply gestured for ryujin to take a seat beside her.

“you look sad.”

“i wouldn’t say i feel sad. its more like i’m trying to come to terms with the fact that my life as it has been for the past 18 years effectively ends tomorrow. once we enter the arena, nothing will ever be the same again.”

yuna hummed. “do you have any regrets about how you lived your life?”

ryujin thought about it and eventually nodded. “i regret never having the chance to love anyone.”

“not even your parents?”

“my parents abandoned me when i was a toddler. for my whole life i’ve just been desperately attempting to make ends meet, doing odd-jobs from day to night, scavenging leftovers from rubbish bins to satiate my hunger, and i simply didn’t have the time or means to form tight-knit relationships with anyone.” 

“we got dealt real shitty hands by fate, didn’t we?” yuna laughed, but it was hollow. “i’ve never loved anyone either. floorball has been my first and last love all my life.”

as if she had been possessed all of a sudden, ryujin’s body started running on autopilot. she sidled up close to yuna, pressing against her side and wrapped one arm around her shoulders.

“it’s not too late.” yuna turned her head to meet ryujin’s eyes, upon which ryujin inhaled sharply. yuna was beautiful, she had always known that, but the moonlight illuminating her facial features made her look more captivating than ever.

“what do you say we be each other’s firsts?” ryujin held her breath. she had laid bare her feelings right there in the open, for the first time and probably the last time ever. the sudden spike in her heart rate, the sweat beginning to form on her palms and the restless twiddling of her thumbs made ryujin acutely aware that she was nervous. well, maybe more like fucking terrified. while she tried to convince herself that she had nothing to lose by following her heart and going for it, she didn’t know how she would handle losing the only thing she had ever been sure about in her life.

ryujin’s mind felt like a warzone. with different trains of thoughts battling for supremacy and her focus being on her jumbled mind, she failed to notice yuna leaning in slowly. she then felt something on her lips. it took her a good three seconds to realise that yuna was fucking kissing her. oh my fucking god. ryujin froze, eyes open so wide they could probably pop right out of their sockets. she stood still as a statue for a good five seconds before yuna pulled away, smirking devilishly at her.

“i understand this is your first kiss, but be more receptive please?”

ryujin needed no further encouragement. (julia’s advice long forgotten)


	2. Chapter 2

the time had come. kill or be killed, ryujin reminded herself, as she paced up and down restlessly. yuna’s instructions were simple: grab as many supplies as possible while avoiding the epicenter of the initial bloodbath, then fleeing to the outskirts of the arena together. ryujin took in a deep breath. she could do this. she was going to stay alive, so that she could make sure yuna did not fall into harm’s way.

“ladies and gentlemen……..let the 103rd hunger games begin!”

ethan, who had been kneeling beside her in silence for the past thirty minutes, seemingly in prayer, let out a guttural roar and made a mad dash towards the cornucopia. instead of placing all her eggs into one basket and joining the inevitable free-for-all at the heart of the cornucopia, where the best weapons were located, ryujin was happy to settle for the leftovers which majority of the tributes had barely spared a glance. she grabbed a hammer and a bunch of bananas before scanning her surroundings for yuna. the bananas could probably last them a few days, if they got that far.

ah, there she is, ryujin thought as she spotted unmistakably striking blonde hair in her peripheral vision. wait a minute...she wasn’t running away from her, was she? ryujin squinted into the distance and her heart sank as yuna indeed veered into a thicket of trees, disappearing from her sight. what had happened to all the promises they had made just yesterday? had their alliance dissipated just like that? had she been played like a puppet on a string the entire time?

as the first howls of pure agony rang out ahead, ryujin shook her head. get yourself together, ryujin. you’ll never see her again unless you get out of here in one piece. she was just about to bolt in the direction yuna had gone when something caught her attention. an axe, lying tantalisingly near her, partially hidden by tall grass. she knew she was at least reasonably competent with an axe, which would definitely increase her chances of survival greatly. however, if she overstayed her welcome, she also knew she would be easy pickings for any armed tribute. 

fuck it. she threw caution to the wind, running full pelt towards the weapon. alas, unbeknownst to her, she wasn’t the only one who had set their sights upon it. ryujin was the fastest to cover the ground, reaching breathlessly for the axe, only to be shoved aside roughly just as her fingers closed over the handle. she let out an involuntary grunt as she landed awkwardly on one elbow, the wind knocked out of her lungs. fuck. that was definitely gonna bruise. more importantly, though, she had to get the fuck out of here. ryujin attempted to scramble to her feet, but instead let out a cry of anguish as someone stomped hard on her ankle. white-hot, searing pain shot through ryujin’s body, essentially rendering her immobile.

“beats me how the gamemakers rated you an 8, you weak lil bitch.” eric’s raspy voice had a condescending tone to it. ryujin could almost picture him sneering at her. “not so tough without yuna to save your ass, huh? unfortunately for you, she’s my ally, not yours.” just then, a cannon sounded. and another. and another. 

eric chuckled. “congratulations, you didn’t finish last place, but i think this is the end of the road for you.”

so ryujin was going to die, just like that. her life flashed before her eyes, from the dark days of fishing in rubbish bins for leftover scraps of food, to the magical highs she had experienced with yuna. yuna, the girl she loved. the only person she had ever loved. ryujin wished she could at least meet her one last time to get closure. she couldn’t and probably wouldn’t ever be able to accept that yuna had simply been toying with her feelings for the entirety of the games.

she closed her eyes, clenched her fists and braced herself for the impact of her skull potentially being split open. the pain never came, however. instead, the pressure being applied on her shin eased, she heard a strangled cry, followed by a soft thud and gurgling noises. ryujin peeked over her shoulder cautiously and was horrified by the sight of eric collapsing to his knees, clutching at his throat desperately to no avail, for an arrow was lodged through his neck cleanly.

“come on ryu, run!” ryujin would recognise that voice anywhere. she looked towards the direction of the shrill yell and just as expected, yuna was gesticulating wildly at her, a bow in her left hand and a quiver of arrows slung across her body. ryujin’s heart swelled with happiness and gratitude. how could she have ever doubted yuna? grabbing the axe tainted with splotches of eric’s blood, ryujin ran towards yuna, her lips involuntarily curving upwards. she was running towards her sunshine. she was running towards her home. she was running towards her purpose.

~

yuna had been deathly silent since they reunited, assertively leading ryujin through the masses of flora and fauna, making her way through the foliage so briskly ryujin practically had to run. ryujin wanted to talk to her so badly, but the stony expression on yuna’s face convinced her that it was not a good time to chatter away. only when they came across a small river did yuna finally allow ryujin a breather, plopping herself down by the riverbank and burying her head in her hands.

ryujin stood by her side awkwardly, hesitating before eventually asking, “are you ok?”

“am i ok? no, i’m clearly not. i’m so, so fucked in the head. i almost left you to die earlier! shin yuna, you fucking idiot!” yuna slapped herself repeatedly, hard, until ryujin grabbed her hands firmly, keeping them in place.

“you saved my life, yuna. it all worked out, didn’t it? it was a good decision to go for the bow and arrows. i’m sure it was a well-calculated risk,” ryujin did her best to console a visibly distraught yuna.

yuna shook her head vigorously, with tears threatening to spill freely from her big eyes. “i’m sure you thought i had ditched you.”

“what’s important is that you didn’t. and you weren’t too late. and we’re both still alive.”

yuna sniffled and wiped her tear-stained cheeks with the back of her hand. “I don’t know what i would do if i lose you.”

how ryujin wished that she could assure yuna that she would never lose her, wished that she could offer her genuine promises of forever. but she couldn’t. not when she was going to see to it that yuna stayed alive. not when she was going to be a willing sacrifice. so she settled for the next best thing, wrapping her arms around yuna from behind and rocking her gently from side to side. they stayed that way for a long time, until yuna’s sniffles gradually faded away, until the sky had been completely engulfed by darkness, until both of them had practically forgotten they were fighting for their lives in a ruthless, unforgiving survival of the fittest.

~

the first cannon sounded. yuna stopped chewing abruptly, with ryujin practically able to see her ears perking up. 

“district 2, tribute eric acruso.” the first casualty of the games was announced in a mechanical, robotic voice which boomed deafeningly from god-knows-where.

“this is not going to go down well in my district.” yuna mumbled through a mouthful of banana, but ryujin could see her smiling despite herself. “i’m gonna get featured on ‘biggest betrayal of the day’ for sure.”

“you mean those videos actually exist?”

“yeah, have you never watched the hunger games on television before?” upon seeing ryujin shake her head solemnly, yuna continued with a smirk on her face. “you’ll be featured too, no doubt. ‘close shave of the day.’”

“by any chance, is there a ‘crybaby of the day’?” 

“hey, don’t do me dirty like that! you scared me to death, ok, eric was about to fucking smash your brains out.” yuna slapped ryujin’s shoulder hard, feigning offense.

“i don’t like watching you cry. you look ugly when you cry.”

“excuse me?” yuna was cut off by the second cannon. “district 5, ivy althea.” ryujin counted a total of 10 cannons, including that of ethan, and wondered just how much carnage had been created at the cornucopia they had wisely kept a distance from. 

unlike the monotonous, dreary way the names of all the fallen tributes had been broadcasted, from the looks of things, the first day of the games had been rather eventful. it wasn’t too often a career perished on the very first day, and even the other casualties had appeared impressive. ryujin recalled ivy coolly obtaining a score of 9 in her evaluation thanks to her prowess with a baton as well as jean’s miraculous ability of specialising in, of all weapons, a boomerang as her weapon of choice. and yet, they were dead. as were 8 others. despite them all likely having more skills and knowhow than ryujin. yikes. the thought that someone could sneak up on them at any instant and drive a dagger through her back ruthlessly was an unnerving one. ryujin may or may not have taken a tentative glance over her shoulder.

yuna seemed to have read her mind, and that assertive, confident, (very attractive) side of her emerged yet again. “we shouldn’t spend the night in an area too exposed or too enclosed. so no caves, and definitely not any of these,” she gestured to the huts arranged almost too perfectly next to the riverbank.

“it’s absolutely freezing out here though.”

“don’t worry, manual heating is more effective than you would think.” yuna wiggled her eyebrows cheekily at a bemused ryujin.

after a thirty-minute long search, they ended up settling for a patch of grass almost entirely obscured by thick, dense bushes and which would be impossible to access without creating a ruckus. ryujin didn’t mind the choice of location at all, with the soft grass being far more comfortable than hard cement she had gotten used to sleeping on back in her district. it was really far too cold, though, she had already begun to shiver involuntarily. 

“how are you going to start a fire here?” ryujin gestured towards the very limited space they had to themselves, which had been made even more cramped after they had set their supplies down.

“who said i was going to start a fire?” yuna had a mischievous glint in her eye, and ryujin wasn’t sure what to think of it.

ryujin cocked her head to the side. “manual...heating?”

“fires are a little too complicated for me, unfortunately. i was referring to body heat.” yuna smirked upon just catching sight of ryujin’s momentary panicked expression as yuna’s big picture dawned upon her.

“come here.” yuna patted her thighs, nodding her head encouragingly as ryujin hesitated, looking into the distance awkwardly. eventually, ryujin gave in (yes it was totally not something she would have wanted) and lay down headfirst on yuna’s lap as yuna smothered her in a warm embrace from behind. she stared at the vast expanse of the night sky and unknowingly got lost in the brightest stars in the entire galaxy: yuna’s eyes. damn. ryujin swore they could illuminate even the darkest of abysses. 

yuna gently massaged her temples, whispering softly and soothingly, “go to sleep, i’ll stay up to keep watch first. see you in a bit.” 

and as ironic as it sounded, on day one of the hunger games, out in the biting cold, ryujin had her best sleep in a long, long time. 

~

the deafening blast of a cannon disrupted the peaceful silence that had settled around the arena, jolting ryujin out of her fatigue-induced daze. fuck. she was not cut out for this watchdog duty. meanwhile, yuna, despite surely having been rudely awakened from her slumber, scrambled to her feet in an instant, eyes already in focus, senses seemingly on high alert.

“people hunt at night?” ryujin whispered into yuna’s ear.

yuna, clearly attempting to detect potential danger, furrowed her brows and replied distractedly, “of course, that’s when everyone is at their most vulnerable.”

ryujin was just about to reply when yuna pressed a finger to her lips, shaking her head urgently. ryujin held her breath, straining her ears as she tried her best not to devolve into full panic mode. then she heard it. exaggerated, borderline hysterical howls of laughter that thankfully sounded like they were coming from a considerable distance away. either someone had completely lost their sanity overnight, or someone wasn’t afraid in the least of their location being revealed. hold up...were the voices getting louder? fuck.

“it’s the careers.” yuna’s voice was practically inaudible. a cold shiver ran down ryujin’s spine as she managed to make out four figures from the tiny gap she was squinting through. it seemed district 1 and district 4 had joined forces. that was going to be a nasty alliance to challenge head-on. and if the sounds of leaves crackling way too near their hiding spot for comfort were any indication, that seemingly insurmountable challenge could be presented to them anytime soon.

“can you...can you believe that this absolute loser tried to jump us? you’re like twice...no, thrice his size, dude!” a distinctly high-pitched voice exclaimed in between peals of laughter. ryujin recognised the voice as sharon’s.

“well, nonetheless, we’ve got ourselves a hearty breakfast, eh?” the gruff voice undoubtedly belonged to the heartless killing machine otherwise known as aragone.

their conversation didn’t quite register in ryujin’s mind until yuna’s hand shot up to cover her mouth and she turned her head to face ryujin. her eyes, already huge by nature, were absolutely bulging with shock and horror. 

“what the actual fuck, they’re gonna fucking eat him!” yuna hissed in a low voice, her face contorted into one of absolute disgust. ryujin didn’t understand. eat who? then she saw the limp, lifeless body being dragged roughly through the deadfall by the bulkiest of the four and…...things clicked into place. fuck. ryujin’s stomach lurched uncomfortably.

“anyone up for some early breakfast, then? i’m famished.” lance chimed in jovially. 

“i could definitely do with some juicy human meat.” ryujin swore aragone’s voice belonged in one of those intense horror films, it was that sinister and downright terrifying. scratch that, such a creature should only exist in horror movies and not in real life. 

wait a minute...were they setting up camp here? like, only 30 metres away from them? ryujin winced. guess we’re stranded here now…she turned to face yuna with a pout, but yuna wasn’t even looking at her. instead, she was in the midst of strapping the quiver of arrows to her body, an unreadable glint in her eye.

“what are you doing? we’ll create a ruckus if we make a run for it right now!”

“don’t worry, i’m not going anywhere. but this is as good a chance as we’ll get to eliminate at least one of them. if an opportunity presents itself, i’m grabbing it with both hands.” yuna readied her bow and arrow with poise and panache, before ducking into the shadows once again.

“do you guys like your meat cooked or raw?” ryujin didn’t recognise the husky female voice, but it had to belong to carol.

“i’m fucking lazy to start a fire so i’ll have my share raw. i call dibs on the thigh!” lance sounded as if he was merely out camping with his friends instead of competing in the fucking hunger games, the tone of his voice was that high-spirited.

as they began setting down their vast array of weapons and supplies and aragone had plopped down on his butt with an exaggeratedly satisfied sigh, yuna inched forward stealthily, steadying herself and preparing to take aim. ryujin’s heart rate began to skyrocket once again as she watched on with bated breath. she trusted yuna with her life, but this was hella risky. she wasn’t up for being tossed around like a ragdoll by an enraged, uncaged aragone till her final breath.

yuna closed one eye and squinted through the other. “i’m shooting in 10.” ryujin nodded and began counting down mentally to the inevitable commotion. ten...nine...eight...seven…

then she heard a loud rustling of leaves, a premature hullabaloo and cries of outrage everywhere. “argh! what the flying fuck, get off me!” yuna lowered her bow, frowning in befuddlement and peered at the scuffle unfolding in front of her. all ryujin could really see was a blur of arms and legs flailing frantically, but from what she could hear, someone had gotten hurt. badly. probably a male, judging from the desperate, deafening howls of anguish. a flurry of expletives were hurled repeatedly before a ear-piercingly shrill scream drowned out the rest of the noise. definitely sharon. 

just then, ryujin caught a glimpse of a lithe, nimble figure sprinting away from the group, with aragone immediately giving chase. however, anyone could tell from a mile away that he was way too agile and deft for aragone to have any chance of pursuing him successfully. after speedy guy had ducked and weaved between enough obstacles to leave the lumbering aragone in a complete daze, he leapt onto a tree and scaled it as fast as a monkey on steroids, before launching himself forward one branch at a time. well, now ryujin knew who he was. fucking tarzan. and just like that, he was gone with the wind.

in the meantime, the agonising cries of pain had died down to mere whimpers. now that ryujin had an unobstructed view of the chaos unfolding in front of her, she was able to make out lance writhing helplessly on the ground, grunting with every miniscule movement he attempted to make. 

“hang in there lance, please. stay with me!” carol sounded on the verge of tears, kneeling beside lance’s squirming figure while digging frantically in her bag, probably for first-aid supplies.

“don’t just help him, will you? can’t you see that someone’s gonna bleed to death here as well?” sharon screamed at the top of her lungs with what sounded like a blend of intense rage and pain.

“fuck you, he’s already dying!” carol spat, clearly incensed by sharon’s demands. well, there goes the alliance…

having been observing the situation cautiously ever since tarzan had made his grand entrance, yuna sprang into action once again. her movements were so fluid and precise, giving off the air and confidence of a practiced archer and ryujin was entranced by the grace with which she performed an act which was simultaneously so elegant yet so deadly. until yet another blood-curdling scream snapped her out of her reverie, just in time for her to witness carol slumping to the ground, an arrow protruding out of the side of her throat. yuna had done it again. and sharon had gone absolutely hysterical, screaming bloody murder.

“let’s get out of here before the hulk returns.” yuna grabbed ryujin’s hand, looking all calm and composed, as if she hadn’t just taken someone’s life mere seconds ago. (ryujin lowkey swooned). 

so they ran. then they heard two cannons fire. they continued running. a third cannon followed soon after. and as they slowed to a jog, completely out of breath and clothes entirely soaked in sweat, you know what, ryujin was starting to believe.


	3. Chapter 3

ryujin had no recollection of when or where she had fallen asleep, but she could conclude from the gentle sunrays filtering into her eyes that it was probably early morning. damn, she was groggy as fuck. this survival of the fittest business was way too exhausting. 

“morning, sleepyhead!” even through ryujin’s post-sleep blurry vision (there had to be some scientific term for that), she could make out yuna’s trademark million-watt smile clear as day. for just a brief moment, ryujin allowed herself to bask in her imagination, where yuna and herself were on a simple camping trip for their first official date, where the only thing that could potentially kill ryujin would be an overdose of yuna’s smiles, laughter and cuteness (those had serious potential as addictive drugs, trust ryujin) and they weren’t in an actual god-damn bloody battle for their lives.

“morning…” she mumbled, voice still rough from disuse. as she stretched lazily, a distinct aroma wafted into her nose and her stomach rumbled purely by reflex.

“so i got us a pretty sick breakfast.” yuna grinned with delight as she raised a white box over her head triumphantly.

“lemme see…” ryujin stretched both arms out while wearing her best cute face. jesus, she sounded...whiny. (ryujin decided that it was just her voice being thick with sleep, there was no way in hell she would ever be caught whining.)

“drumroll, please,” yuna cooed teasingly, to which ryujin blatantly rolled her eyes. “tadahhh! we got ourselves a whole pizza! can you believe it?”

ryujin was stunned, her jaw falling slack and mouth hanging agape. “how did you even come across this?” 

“magic.” yuna performed a dramatic, exaggerated hair-flip, before bursting into a fit of giggles at ryujin’s appalled expression. “ok, ok, i may have been gifted a little something by a sponsor, you loser.”

oh. of course yuna would attract plenty of sponsors, what with her being attractive, reputable and absolutely deadly in the playing field. ryujin could never relate. the self-hatred she thought she had buried deep within the trenches of her heart began to seep through rapidly expanding cracks, threatening to consume her whole. she suddenly felt useless, incapable, a sorry loser indeed. 

what had she done for yuna since day 1? zero. zilch. nada. it had been yuna who had spared her from the wrath of eric’s fury, who had intelligently pointed out the perfect hiding spot and who was even intending to feed her with delectable pizzas. fuck, man, all ryujin had contributed was a bunch of mushy, gross bananas. what a good-for-nothing idiot she was, thinking she could heroically ensure yuna’s safety when she was in fact just nothing more than a nuisance, plain and simple. oh, and one that needed to be fed and protected at that. even better.

“ryujin? are you hearing me?” yuna’s voice broke her self-deprecating train of thoughts and she looked up to see her wearing a mildly confused expression, eyebrows furrowed cutely. “let’s eat?”

“no, you should have it all for yourself. i’m essentially worthless here and i’m just weighing you down. it must be hard enough trying to keep your own head above water without having to support someone else single-handedly.” the devil had well and truly gained autonomy over ryujin’s mind and all her self-loathing was coming to the fore.

“what in the world are you saying?” yuna appeared to be completely taken aback, bewilderment etched all over her face.

“i haven’t even done anything to help you in the games yet. you’ve been the one saving my life, strategising brilliantly and now even filling my stomach? i don’t deserve this, i’m just slowing you down, aren’t i?” ryujin muttered in a small voice.

yuna knelt beside ryujin and tilted ryujin’s head gently to face her own. “ryu, trust me when i say i would be half the competitor i am without you by my side. i’m doing all this because you are spurring me on, so don’t ever think that you’re incapable or worthless, because you mean the world to me.”

ryujin wasn’t wholly convinced, but she didn’t have the heart to protest such genuine affirmation. not to mention the fact that yuna had just stuffed a large slice of pizza into her mouth. she quite literally couldn’t complain now, aside from her indignant muffled cries of protest. (which sounded more helpless and pathetic than anything, she had to admit.)

“cheer up, i don’t like it when you’re sad. you look ugly when you’re sad.” 

as down in the dumps as she felt, ryujin couldn’t help but crack a smile, both at yuna’s cheeky smirk and the way her own words had been used against her. 

“the audacity, shin yuna…”

“that’s more like the ryujin i know. now you better get more of that pizza into your belly because we’re gonna have a really fucking long day ahead of us.”

~

ryujin dragged her feet lethargically through the never ending piles of dead leaves, her legs screaming desperately for a break. fucking hell, they had been walking for an eternity and all she had seen was trees, trees and more trees. her feet felt like fucking lead. thank god for the pizza earlier, at least she wasn’t famished on top of the unbearable thirst she was currently experiencing, her mouth and throat completely parched. where the fuck was the water in this god-forsaken place? she wondered if it was a deliberate ploy by the gamemakers to localise water sources at certain areas in order to force tributes into the same vicinity, so that all hell would subsequently break loose and ratings would skyrocket. 

“they have something up their sleeves, i just know it.” yuna voiced irritably, as if she had just read ryujin’s mind. she kicked out at a particularly large stack of dead leaves in frustration, before continuing. “the gamemakers usually leave us alone on the first day, but they start toying with us guinea pigs from the second day onwards.”

“they couldn’t have cut off our water supply completely, could they?” 

“well...they did poison the water supply a few years back, so i wouldn’t put it past them, frankly. i have a feeling there’s much more to this than meets the eye, though.” yuna chewed on her lower lip, seemingly deep in thought.

as if on cue, a giant clap of thunder reverberated throughout the arena, almost making ryujin jump out of her skin. she had never been a fan of loud noises. what the fuck? where had that massive cluster of grey clouds come from? last ryujin remembered, there was nary a cloud in the sky. 

“man-made thunderstorm, huh.” yuna sighed, but she wore a knowing smile on her face. “we’re really at the mercy of those fuckers, aren’t we.”

“maybe they just don’t want us to die of thirst.” ryujin quipped dryly, just as raindrops began pelting down on their bodies relentlessly with so much force it stung. gales of wind blew with such tremendous velocities she half expected to be swept off her feet and carried far into the distance like a hapless leaf in a tornado. this was no ordinary thunderstorm. jesus christ, it was more like a fucking hurricane. 

“this is a little overkill, though, don’t you think?” yuna yelled over the deafening downpour as they scrambled for cover beneath a gargantuan raintree, already soaked to the skin.

it really was, but ryujin had to admit the rainwater tasted delicious. every cloud has a silver lining and all that jazz…and then all the optimism ryujin had done her utmost to generate dissipated in exactly one second. one terrifying second. one second where she wasn’t even sure what had happened. one second where she didn’t even know if she was alive. she couldn’t hear anything yet her ears felt like they were ringing madly. had a bomb exploded right in their faces? had they stepped on a landmine hidden beneath the tufts of tall grass and fallen leaves?

when she had somewhat regained her bearings, ryujin recoiled in horror when she realised the raintree they had been using for shelter had been split cleanly into half, the top half holding extensive networks of leaves and branches crashing to the ground noisily and miraculously missing them both by a hair. holy fuck. that lightning strike had been meant for them. thank god they had emerged unscathed...hold up, why was yuna lying on the ground? 

ryujin’s eyes almost bulged out of their sockets as she registered the sharp piece of wood jutting out of yuna’s calf. oh fuck. she had always thought that yuna was way too intelligent and skilled to get caught off guard by either the gamemakers or other tributes. and of all things, a fucking giant wooden splinter had gotten yuna. just great.

ryujin had always wondered why people perpetually asked someone who was clearly hurt if they were ok, because like, duh? they clearly weren’t ok? and yet she found herself asking the exact same dumb question.

“oh my god, yuna, are you alright?” perhaps it was a statement made by reflex when one’s mind was in a panic-induced frenzy from having seen someone dear to them injured badly.

yuna managed a hurried nod, before wincing and mumbling weakly, “i’ll live, but only if i stop the bleeding real quick.”

fuck, fuck, fuck. why did she have essentially zero first-aid knowledge? why was she so useless? come on ryujin, yuna’s always been there to save your sorry ass. it’s about time you repaid the favour. 

even with her very limited scope of understanding, ryujin knew yuna needed a bandage. but how was she to obtain a bandage…oh, fuck. well, she gotta do what she gotta do. do it for yuna. she ripped the bottom half of her shirt roughly in her haste, before squatting besides yuna, who was trying her best to appear unruffled and composed, yet was evidently gritting her teeth hard.

ryujin took a deep breath and prayed to every god out there that she knew what she was doing. she gingerly removed the nasty intruder nestled rather deep into yuna’s leg, not missing the way yuna repeatedly tensed up and clenched her fists, before wrapping the cloth around the open wound as tightly as possible.

she was about to heave a huge sigh of relief when a cannon sounded, the unexpected blast scaring her out of her wits. damn, she was such a jittery bunch of nerves right now. then again, someone had probably just gotten fried alive by a few million volts of electricity, so ryujin’s behaviour was probably warranted.

“shit, another one bites the dust.” yuna was trying to appear as nonchalant as possible, ryujin could tell, but under the understandably weak facade was a scared girl. a seventeen year old who should never have to face such trials and tribulations in her life, who had every right to be as afraid as a pampered child would be in her shoes. yuna patted her wound through the makeshift bandage gently, before her expression hardened once again, the moment of vulnerability passing as quick as it had arrived.

“we should get going. you never know, lightning could very well strike the same spot twice in the fucking hunger games.” yuna grumbled as she rolled her eyes in disdain, but scarily enough, ryujin knew such a flippant remark could very well prove prophetic in this fucked up place.

seeing yuna struggle to get to her feet, wearing a visibly pained expression, ryujin absolutely pounced at the opportunity to help yuna to an upright position. she couldn’t believe the role reversal. somehow, yuna had become the damsel in distress and ryujin could now assume the role of the hero wearing a cape swooping in to save the day. while the chance obviously arose due to less-than-ideal circumstances, it felt somewhat good being able to fuss over and act all protective over a physically hampered and vulnerable yuna. it finally felt as if they were partners-in-crime and not like yuna was her unflappable, infallible bodyguard.

yuna was usually independent to the point of obstinately refusing help, so when she had little option but to lean half her body weight onto ryujin just so she could stagger forward unsteadily, ryujin knew she needed her help more than ever. she was only too willing to answer her call of duty. she would give yuna the world if she could.

~

julia finally released the breath she didn’t realise she had been holding as ryujin and the blonde girl stumbled clumsily into a small cave partially obscured from sight by lush vegetation. they had escaped the eye of the storm, both literally and figuratively. 

she shook her head regretfully. this wasn’t like her. she didn’t quite want to admit it, but she had grown rather fond of ryujin, the feisty, fighter girl. letting go of tributes was usually much more routine, as most were in the mould of ethan, long since resigned to their fate and essentially having lost half the battle. ryujin...was something else entirely though. 

she had been rather taken aback at the carnage and brutality ryujin had proven herself capable of during the evaluations. from what she had observed, the girl also possessed superb strategic intelligence, somehow getting the blonde career tribute on her side. julia had pegged the blonde as a dark horse to emerge triumphant eventually, and she had certainly lived up to expectations thus far. even better, she had rescued ryujin from the desperate clutches of death. and now that she was essentially crippled, she should be easy pickings for ryujin whenever the time was right...julia wondered if she was a horrible person for even having such a thought cross her mind. you have to be heartless to an extent to win the games, she reassured herself.

julia had only one worry. she hoped ryujin hadn’t forgotten her most crucial piece of advice. maybe it was time to provide a little reminder.

~

“ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to live coverage of the second day of the 103rd hunger games!”

“it’s already been an eventful start to the day, with tribute edgar williams from district 8 unfortunately having taken his last breath, and the bookmakers’ new favourite to win the games, career tribute shin yuna getting seriously injured.”

“both incidents occurred as direct consequences of deadly lightning strikes. this tasty clip captured by one of our drone cameras illustrates the raw, overwhelming shock and terror etched on yuna’s face as lightning strikes the gargantuan raintree behind them. thankfully for her, and her considerably large legion of supporters, she survived both the onslaught of inclement weather and her leg injury, and is currently recuperating in a well-concealed cave with her surprise ally, shin ryujin of district 10.

“edgar wasn’t so lucky, though. viewer discretion is recommended for the upcoming clip, for watching someone get struck directly by lightning may admittedly be rather disturbing, especially for the faint-hearted.”

-screen cuts to professor hussey, head gamemaker (a bespectacled old man who bears an uncanny resemblance to frankenstein and is probably every bit as evil.)-

“dearest viewers, after the recent developments, i know you may be thinking that we are being even more cruel than in previous editions, but hold your horses before you make any snap judgements! what if i told you that we are being more generous than ever before?”

“the tributes were slowly dying of thirst, weren’t they? that’s precisely why we bestowed upon them gallons upon gallons of precious water, to satiate their greedy water needs. however, we aren’t the giving tree, are we? we’re the hunger games. there’s no such thing as a free lunch in this world, much less in the games. every gift comes with a price. thunderstorms are a natural phenomenon, aren’t they? we haven’t even gotten creative yet.”

“do look forward to our upcoming acts of generosity! we promise to continue keeping your eyes glued to the screen.”

~

they were running out of food, two bananas all that remained from their supply. ryujin was thankful that she had had the presence of mind to fill both their water canteens to the brim with the rainwater just before they hobbled into the cave with considerable difficulty. they could survive without food for a long while, she reasoned; herself in particular, as she had a wealth of experience with regards to borderline starvation. they wouldn’t live long without water, though.

she could tell that yuna was in one of her moods once again. firstly, she had been awfully silent, which ryujin had come to learn was never a good sign when it came to yuna. secondly, her brooding eyes and distant gaze were clear indications that she was overthinking. not to mention that she had just gone through a near-death experience. anyone would be shaken to the core.

“penny for your thoughts.” ryujin ventured as casually as possible, keen to break the uncomfortable silence that had settled between them. 

yuna attempted a half-hearted smile, but it was unconvincing at best. “i think i know how you felt earlier today. well, i’ve become immobile, just like that.” she snapped her fingers for effect.

“and now i’m the one who’ll be slowing you down…” yuna continued ruefully, looking down at her lap and fiddling with her fingers mindlessly.

the irony of the entire situation wasn’t lost on ryujin, who felt a laugh bubbling up inside and really did try her best to suppress it. it wasn’t the time. but it was as if all her will and self-control had deserted her, and she exploded into a fit of giggles. the thought that she had gone insane crossed her mind several times as her shoulders shook uncontrollably and tears welled up in her eyes. indeed, yuna was eyeing her with a half-amused, half-judgmental look.

“i’m sorry.” ryujin managed to choke out, taking several deep breaths to compose herself into wearing as serious an expression as she possibly could.

“it’s just...i’m not gonna repeat the words that came out from your very own mouth mere hours ago. you’ll just have to deal with me being ridiculously overprotective and being by your side 24/7 babying you.” ryujin’s words may have come off as light-hearted, but their intent were very much heartfelt.

she looked up to meet yuna’s eyes, and her breath got caught in her throat. because yuna was just staring at her as if she were the brightest star in the entire universe. because describing yuna’s gaze as entrancing wouldn’t do it justice. not even close. 

“come here.” yuna pouted cutely, extending both arms outwards and ryujin closed the distance between them in no time, making sure to avoid aggravating yuna’s injury while sinking into the adorably initiated embrace.

“i love you so, so much, you don’t even know.” yuna mumbled into the crook of her neck, and ryujin’s heart swelled with so much affection she half expected it to burst. 

“i love you too.” ryujin wished she could have phrased her reply with more sophistication and class, yet perhaps this was the most appropriate response. it was really the only thing that mattered.

“i don’t care, i’m gonna love you forever ever after. i have to. we’re gonna find a way, ryu. we’ll get out of this hellhole together.” yuna’s voice was barely audible, but the sheer steel, grit and determination in her voice was clear as day.

ryujin’s head may have been convincing her that there was no way out of the intricate traps laid out meticulously by the gamemakers, but her heart, perhaps foolishly, believed otherwise. they had performed miracle after miracle already, after all. what were a few more?


	4. Chapter 4

“calling all hunger games participants, i repeat, calling all hunger games participants, as i speak, there are parachute drops containing valuable supplies arriving all over the map. running low on food or water? want an upgraded weapon that’s far more deadly? here’s your chance to gain a vital edge over your competitors!

yuna and ryujin, having made themselves comfortable by leaning side by side against an unexpectedly comfortable wall, exchanged skeptical glances upon hearing the overly cheery, rather dodgy announcement.

“don’t go, it’s definitely a trap.” yuna chuckled tiredly. “i wonder if any idiot will actually take the bait.” 

however, upon noticing ryujin’s sheepish smile and somewhat guilty demeanour, she frowned disapprovingly.

“you can’t be serious.”

but ryujin was dead serious. the urge to prove her worth as a competitor and make yuna proud; the desire to step up and play a more crucial role in the alliance while yuna was physically hampered; the burning want to emerge as yuna’s hero and saviour, they were tremendous, irrepressible (and probably very misguided).

“i’ve never been more serious in my life.”

yuna gawked at ryujin in disbelief. “shin ryujin, do you have a death wish? they don’t just spoon-feed us resources in the hunger games, in case you haven’t noticed. they’re probably gonna set the mutts on us instead.”

“we’re out of food and you’re hurt. you’re not gonna heal quick if you don’t eat. so the most logical thing to do is that i, being in the absolute pink of health, get us some delicious food to enjoy.” ryujin stated matter-of-factly, trying to sound far more confident than she actually was. she just hoped her face wouldn’t betray her true emotions.

yuna looked livid and all ready to fire back a sharp retort, so ryujin mustered up all her false bravado, rising to her feet and placing her index finger on yuna’s lips. better stopping an argument she wasn’t going to win before it even started…

“don’t worry too much, i’m bringing my trusty baby with me. i’ll be back before you know it!” swinging the axe over her shoulder stylishly(she hoped), ryujin strode towards the exit of the cave with a swagger(she also hoped).

she pretended not to hear yuna’s aggrieved sigh, as well as her grudgingly-mumbled ‘stay safe’, stepping back out into the unknown without any hesitation. then, once she was sure she was out of yuna’s field of view, she held her head in her hands. she wanted to yank her hair out. well done, shin ryujin. what have you gotten yourself into, you fucking idiot? what was the masterful plan she had in mind?

she didn’t know where she was. she didn’t know where the food was. she didn’t know whether there were mutts roaming around, ready to tear her apart limb by limb. she didn’t know whether there were other tributes sneakily watching her every move and plotting numerous ways to send her to her grave. nice.

what now?

~

“ladies and gents, make sure you tune in to live coverage of the 103rd hunger games right now! you are about to witness the enthralling spectacle of a three-way tussle for one generous box of supplies. do let all your friends and families know! trust me, this is not something you want to be missing out on.”

~

ryujin was caught in two minds. the parachute wasn’t far from her. she could throw caution to the wind, put all her eggs in one basket and make a reckless dash for it. however, the flipside was that her location would be compromised to any other tributes potentially in the vicinity, which would essentially spell certain death.

but if she decided to play the long game, someone else might make the first move and she would have no alternative but to utilise force to reclaim what was rightfully hers. (she did see it first, ok? finders keepers) that wasn’t ideal. ryujin was a peace-seeking human being.

she decided to make a compromise, advancing as fast as she possibly could without creating an absolute ruckus. perhaps it was the calm before the storm, but her amateurish attempt to be as stealthy as a ninja went surprisingly smoothly. she had kept her eyes peeled for any speck of movement in her peripheral vision but hadn’t registered anything.

and just like that, ryujin found herself in front of the large box by herself, surrounded by an eerie, ominous silence. she scanned her surroundings warily for the nth time, her poor heart throbbing so rapidly and forcefully, practically threatening to burst out of her chest. something wouldn’t allow her to let her guard down. something was telling her she was being watched.

was she overthinking this? snap out of it, ryujin. just take the food and get the fuck outta here. she forced herself to turn her attention to the box, fiddling with the latch with shaky fingers. jesus, when did opening boxes become so difficult...and can this fucking bug stop bothering me!

ryujin jerked her head in random directions wildly, desperate to shake off the despicable insect that almost seemed to be making fun of her, landing on every conceivable location on her face, before whizzing away gleefully with every twitch.

hearing the downright infuriating buzz in her ear, of all places, was ryujin’s cue to jolt to her right particularly violently. and so she didn’t think much of it when something whistled right past her left ear, mere millimetres from grazing it. surely it was that good-for-nothing bug again. 

but when a goddamn knife clattered full force against the (thankfully) hardy box, having clearly been thrown by someone who knew their way around the deadly weapon, rest assured ryujin was paying full attention to her surroundings, that damn bug long forgotten.

she scrambled to her feet clumsily, persistently holding her axe out in front of her as if it could magically create a forcefield which could deflect any enemy attacks, desperation settling in hard and fast as she squinted helplessly at her increasingly daunting surroundings. to think she genuinely believed she stood any chance in an individual duel...she was a fucking sitting duck, that’s what she was.

“i didn’t expect you to still be alive. quite impressive, i gotta say.” ryujin seriously thought that with all her harrowing experiences in the games thus far, she would have seen it all...but nothing could have possibly braced her for hearing a bush talk in a female voice, surely. and when the bush suddenly doubled in size and started moving towards her, ryujin pinched herself weakly, adamant that she had to be having some warped nightmare.

or maybe she just wasn’t willing to believe that some psycho would take the effort to disguise herself as a fucking plant. the knife blades jutting out from tightly clenched fists, however, served as a stern reminder that this was an actual foe deadset on killing her and who presumably had the necessary skillset to accomplish exactly that.

“i could say the same to you. nice disguise, by the way, you’re even more unnoticeable now than you were in the preliminaries.” ryujin could very well be digging her own grave by egging the girl on, but she would prefer to call it a calculated risk. she needed the girl to make a wrong move, and make it first.

the girl scoffed audibly. “well, i hope you’ll have noticed me by the time i kill you.” and right on cue, she charged recklessly, the leaves rustling noisily as she picked up speed and ryujin barely had time to react before a knife was flung straight at her face. she ducked just in the nick of time, the deadly weapon whizzing by overhead, perilously close to nestling itself within ryujin’s skull. 

by this point, the girl had closed the distance between them significantly, brandishing knives in both hands(why the fuck did she seem to have a neverending supply of those, seriously), appearing all poised and ready to strike. but ryujin didn’t panic. she was somewhat even surprised by the clarity and focus she was able to retain in such a frenzied duel, managing to keep a cool head to analyse the situation. 

i’ve got her where i want her. the range advantage the girl could have exploited by throwing her knives had been negated. ryujin knew she had the upper hand at close range. it’s now or never. 

she kept herself as low as possible, swinging the axe as hard as she could as if it were a baseball bat. and the instant she made contact, she knew she had connected sweetly. home run. the girl screamed, the shrill cry a heart wrenching mix of anguish, rage and despair. ryujin felt bad, she really did, for she knew the girl was done for. she had officially taken a life.

sure enough, the girl collapsed limply to the ground not even a second later, blood gushing out from the horrifying wound ryujin had single-handedly inflicted upon her, staining the healthy green leaves deep crimson red. ryujin felt sick to her stomach. the adrenaline and anxiety that had fuelled her to such startlingly savage behaviour was ebbing away in waves rapidly, and numbness was taking over her entire body. devoid of any energy all of a sudden, she sank to her knees weakly, her mind frantically attempting to come to terms with the fact she had just brutally murdered someone. 

~

little did ryujin know, the girl wasn’t the only competitor that had been stealthily spying on her. in fact, she would practically have been an afterthought if ryujin had been privy to the identity of the tribute watching her from high above. he chuckled in mock disappointment. heck, he was itching for a real challenge. maybe he should have just made his presence known from the start, instead of being a mere bystander to the amateurish battle that had just ensued. at this rate, victory would almost be too easy.

what would the most satisfying method of killing the defenceless lamb in front of him be? he licked his lips devilishly as he weighed up the multitude of options at his disposal. he could skin her alive, he could break every single bone in her body…truly spoilt for choice.

“ryu!” a shrill shriek rudely interrupted his morbid fantasies, and he peered downwards from his excellent vantage point, interest piqued once again. was this a tribute hotspot or what? 

oh. it was the asian career his mentor nick had warned him not to underestimate in the letter he had received along with numerous sponsor gifts. something about her and her ally being formidable, cunning competition. well, given the way the career was limping gingerly towards her clearly inexperienced ally, he rolled his eyes. nick, ever the exaggerating worrywart.

he watched on intently as the career fussed over the other girl who looked incredibly shaken, waiting for the right time to strike such that he could take them both out in one fell swoop. and the instant they eventually let down their guard completely, embracing each other tightly, he began descending the massive tree, hopping from branch to branch with practiced ease and stealth. however, he stopped dead in his tracks when he heard a telltale growl that sounded way too close for comfort. 

fucking hell. it seemed the mutts had been unleashed. and that was his cue to retrace his steps and return to his original position. he may not have been scared of the two girls, but he wasn’t gonna mess with the brutish robots deployed by the gamemakers. they would more than likely do the job for him anyhow. he just wondered how these tributes seemed to be slipping out of his grasp time and time again. the next one he met wasn’t gonna be so lucky, he would make sure of that.

~

ryujin was almost positive that she was hearing voices when she heard yuna calling her name. perhaps the gamemakers had released some hallucination-inducing gas into the arena that had caused her to lose her sanity. but it had still hurt like a bitch when she pinched herself, so the yuna limping towards her unsteadily was probably real and not a figment of her imagination.

she said the first thing that came into her mind as soon as yuna was within earshot. “how did you find me?”

“jesus, i really thought you were badly hurt when you suddenly got on your knees. anyway, i was worried about you going on your own little expedition in the arena, so i barely managed to tail you from afar. by the time i lost sight of you, the parachute had thankfully come into view and i kept going in its general direction.” yuna rattled off breathlessly, bending over to catch her breath.

“you really shouldn’t have, your leg’s gonna be even more busted now.” ryujin frowned, half-heartedly attempting to chide yuna, but she really couldn’t find it in herself to be upset. especially not when yuna delivered her signature pout and ryujin felt an unmistakable tug on her heartstrings.

“it is what it is, i’ll get by. moving on to more important matters, i see you’re a virgin no longer.” yuna gestured towards the corpse lying in a crumpled heap next to her, practically submerged in a pool of her own blood.

“it wasn’t a good experience.” ryujin shook her head defeatedly. she didn’t understand how most tributes wouldn’t bat an eye if they killed or even injured a fellow human being. what a disgusting culture, she thought, being forcibly coerced from young to inflict harm upon others and eventually brainwashed to the extent that they became savages who actively sought the blood of their peers.

“the first time is always the hardest. i hate to say this, but you’ll get used to it. or at least become numb to it. as you must already know, it’s kill or be killed here. take your pick.” yuna patted ryujin on the shoulder sympathetically.

but ryujin was only half-listening. she swore she had glimpsed a speck of movement amongst the trees. or had she? she couldn’t tell between reality and imagination any longer. maybe tarzan was haunting and consuming her subconscious insidiously.

she couldn’t even focus on scrutinising her surroundings, though, for yuna abruptly slapped a firm hand over her mouth. she was about to let out a cry of protest, but yuna’s subsequent words chilled her to the spine. 

“the mutts are here.” yuna whispered in a grim voice. 

aligning her line of sight in the direction yuna was pointing towards shakily with her outstretched arm, ryujin instantly regretted her decision. she was unsure whether seeing the monstrous creature in the flesh or the murderous growl it had just let out was more terrifying, but she was certain about one thing: she was absolutely paralysed with fear. boy were they well and truly fucked.

~

“good afternoon to all esteemed viewers of the hunger games, this is your head gamemaker, professor hussey speaking.”

“did everyone witness the mind-blowing charity we exhibited earlier in the day? free parachute drops of food, water and weapons. and no, that isn’t even an exaggeration. it’s getting quite ridiculous, isn’t it? never have tributes ever had it so good. a few fortunate souls were even able to attain the supplies while emerging completely unscathed. while there was admittedly a little bit of a scuffle at the other end of the arena, nonetheless, a big win for the tributes overall.”

“they can’t be the only ones enjoying sumptuous meals, though, can they? thus, we’ve decided to reward a group of very important individuals as well. our precious mutts have been deprived of juicy human meat for far too long. and so, we’ve decided: it’s mealtime.”

“however, in yet another act of mercy for the tributes, this year’s mutts have glaring limitations which can be exploited as long as they make use of their powers of observation. make sure to tune in to live coverage of the games so you won’t miss any of the numerous plot twists in store! we hope this fresh, unprecedented concept is to your liking.”

~

ryujin didn’t dare to move a muscle. heck, she didn’t even dare to breathe. not when the lion-robot-monster abomination appeared to be staring right through her soul. 

“can it not see us?” yuna whispered into her ear, clearly not willing to budge an inch either.

ryujin was caught in two minds as to whether it would be wise for her to reply. she wasn’t exactly too keen to get ripped to shreds. yuna seemed to have other ideas, though; ryujin could just about sense the other girl inching into an upright position.

“sorry ryu, i’m gonna be playing with fire right now and i have no idea if we’ll get burnt.” for all that ryujin’s mind was running wild, staying rooted to the spot seemed to be the only thing she was capable of at that point in time. and so she heard rather than saw yuna fire off an arrow that looked a dead cert to impale the mutt’s skull but agonisingly veered mere inches to the side, nestling itself into a tree trunk with a painfully loud crack. ryujin winced. well, it was a nice life while it lasted…


	5. Chapter 5

the beast reared up on its hind legs and let out an enraged, menacing roar. ryujin flinched as it charged in a rapid blur of movement, leaving behind a cloud of dust and dirt in its wake. she squeezed her eyes shut, simply hoping that her ignominious fate would be sealed in a mere matter of seconds. she heard the crash and the cacophony of destruction loud and clear, yet strangely the impact she had braced herself for never arrived. she half-wondered if she had been mauled so quickly that no pain could even be felt, but that theory was quickly dashed by urgent tapping on her shoulder.

“look, i don’t think it can see us.” yuna didn’t even sound tentative anymore, she practically sounded intrigued, which led to ryujin reluctantly cracking one eye open. and upon watching the creature absolutely tear the poor tree apart, she could only thank her lucky stars that she wasn’t the subject of its sheer destructive power.

“i need to test this theory, so here goes nothing.” and before she knew it, yet another arrow was whizzing by her head, clattering off a large rock and landing within a congested clump of vegetation. 

the beast whirled around in a flash, baring its fangs aggressively and letting out another deafening roar. needless to say, the pitiful bushes were reduced to a pile of shredded leaves and broken twigs in no time at all. 

damn, was yuna a genius or what? ryujin gazed over at the girl by her side just as she lowered her bow, lips curled upwards in a satisfied smirk. “it appears they’re as blind as bats, but they probably have enhanced hearing to compensate. as long as we remain as quiet as mice, we’ll remain intact in one piece.”

yuna rose to her feet, her expression absolutely screaming confidence and took an assertive step backwards. ryujin, being as awestruck and whipped as ever, was simply staring blatantly and unashamedly when yuna’s face suddenly contorted into one of sheer panic, her arms windmilling wildly in the air as she tried in vain to maintain her balance. a shrill yelp came first, followed by a suppressed ‘oomph’ as she landed ungracefully on her butt. a darned stray branch, of all things, was to be their downfall. ryujin stared down at the cracked branch with an expression that was equal parts vexed, accusatory and disbelieving, as if the damage could be undone.

fuck. ryujin knew she should be helping yuna up and fussing over her clumsiness which may have aggravated her already-severe injury, but she couldn’t help but glance tentatively towards the beast. as much as yuna had tried to minimise the noise she had inadvertently created, it was not going to escape the attention of a killing machine with supersonic hearing. and her worst fears were confirmed almost instantly when she made eye contact with the snarling mutt. she knew it couldn’t see her, but in spite of that, she felt as if its gaze was boring straight through her soul.

she blinked once. and that was all the time it took for the beast to begin barreling towards her. she had about 10 seconds maximum before the mutt either sent her flying or dislocated every part of her body brutally. despite the desperate situation, instead of self-preservation, there was only one coherent thought in her frazzled mind: protect yuna.

and so ryujin did the first thing she could think of. she launched the axe as hard as she could towards the monster approaching. it was only when the axe had fully left her grasp that she realised how bad a move that was. for one, she had just provoked it, and it didn’t exactly need more motivation to pounce on her and tear her apart. to make matters worse, she was now absolutely defenceless, having discarded the only weapon in her possession. she needed a miracle(again).

and ryujin must have saved the world in her previous life, because she got it(again). the scene unfolding before her very eyes could have been taken straight out of a nightmare or one of those run-of-the-mill cliched horror movies, with the axe somehow landing squarely in the mutt’s huge, terrifying mouth; the mutt howling, rearing up on its hind legs and buckling wildly all at once. with the mutt’s attention trained solely on grinding the axe down to mere splinters and rust, ryujin decided to stand as still as a statue. they had gotten close enough, but they were not going to become its next meal. it seemed yuna hadn’t read the script, though, with an arrow nestling itself snugly into the mutt’s skull. and another. and another. after what seemed like an eternity of the mutt squirming and growling haplessly, it finally collapsed to the ground, all its man-made, artificial life sucked out of it.

well, ryujin thought, if this was a horror movie, the two of them simply had to be the protagonists, for their ability to dig themselves out of hole after hole was reminiscent of the impenetrable plot armour usually shielding the main characters of films. those main characters did usually get battered and bruised in the process, to be fair. yuna seemed to be bearing the brunt in the injury department, though, and ryujin hated that. 

“how’s your leg?” yuna didn’t seem to have heard ryujin, her eyes still trained on the fallen mutt, as if fearful of the possibility that it would somehow rise again from the depths of the underworld.

“we just slayed a mutt and the first thing you mention is my leg?” yuna returned ryujin’s gaze, face full of amazement and wonder. “we’re absolutely shitting on the gamemakers here, i couldn’t give less of a fuck about my leg right now.”

ryujin had to agree. if she had started to believe a while ago, that belief was solidifying and becoming concrete the longer they continued to overcome the odds in this wretched game.

~

“and that is a wrap for day 2 of the hunger games! it’s surely been an utterly draining day for the tributes still battling valiantly to emerge at the top of the tree, having to contend with storms, mutts and their bloodthirsty peers and at the end of all the carnage and savagery we have 5 new deaths to report today.”

“firstly, we have the victims of the newly incorporated elements, namely the lightning strikes and the mutts. edgar williams was the poor fellow electrocuted into oblivion while rena starke literally lost her head upon brazenly attempting to ambush a mutt.”

“elsewhere, felix strutta and shin ryujin further established themselves as two of the heavy favourites to take it all, with felix’s patented ‘tree-hugging’ strategy paying dividends yet again, managing to catch 2 unsuspecting tributes, raina lee and denis ottemann, off guard and closing the chapter on their games.”

“perhaps the most unexpected storyline today came in the form of the gutsy shin ryujin, who stepped out of the injured shin yuna’s shadow to prove her true worth to the alliance. she wrecked the hopes and dreams of daisy fallon, who had utilised a highly unorthodox strategy of disguising herself as a plant, and even managed to play a pivotal role in taking down a mutt.”

“onto day 3 it is, where our charitable streak will not be ending! be sure to tune in for our daily coverage of the hunger games tomorrow, and till then, have a good night’s sleep.”

~

the final cannon signalled that day 2 of the hunger games had officially drawn to a close.

“not many of them are left.” yuna pondered thoughtfully as she took a big bite of her apple.(provided by another sponsor, of course. julia, what the fuck were you doing…)

“aragone, tarzan and…i can’t even remember the rest.” ryujin pouted unconsciously, displeased that her memory had let her down.

“well done girl, that’s the mindset you need to win the hunger games. when everyone is so insignificant you can just kill them without hesitation and feel no remorse.” yuna cooed with a bemused expression, but ryujin could tell she was still being half-serious.

“nah, i’m just bad with names.”

“seriously, though, i’m really proud of you.” yuna was looking at her as if she was one of the seven wonders of the world. “this is a bit messed up, but you’ve gotten braver, more decisive and more ruthless. you’re not scared of anyone or anything anymore. i’m so proud of the growth you’ve shown.”

“messed up sounds about right, such growth really isn’t too desirable.” in spite of her words, the warmth spreading throughout her chest couldn’t lie, ryujin had to admit she was somewhat pleased. perhaps being praised by the girl you liked did that to you.

“hopefully you become so desensitised to murder it becomes easier to kill me eventually.” yuna looked into the distance wistfully, her usually cheeky demeanour nowhere to be seen, leaving ryujin in a state of absolute shock and horror.

“that was a terrible joke, just so you know.” she attempted to brush it off, but uneasiness began to brew in the pit of her stomach when yuna’s facial expression didn’t brighten up.

“i already told you that i’m gonna make sure you win the games. and there can never be 2 winners of the hunger games. it is inevitable.” yuna stared deeply into the depths of ryujin’s eyes, attempting to convey the true gravity of the situation.

“i guess we’ll see about that, because i also promised myself that i would see to it that you emerge victorious. may the best woman win.” ryujin shrugged her shoulders in her best attempt at nonchalance, while yuna simply shook her head, a knowing smile spread across her face.

“i’ve never felt so strongly about someone before. never gotten so worried about someone’s wellbeing, never had the urge to protect someone at all costs, and i really do think it is magical that my feelings are reciprocated. it’s electrifying. you’re electrifying. you’re a keeper, shin ryujin, i will never forget you, regardless of what may happen further down the road.” yuna’s monologue simply oozed sincerity and ryujin couldn’t help but feel like her heartstrings were being tugged at relentlessly.

“we were made for each other, i’m almost positive. it’s very much a case of right person, wrong time. and you should also know that no matter what happens, these few days spent together with you will be the memory etched most clearly in my mind for the rest of my life, and the memory i will treasure most for the rest of my life.” 

that was quite a mouthful, ryujin was aware, and she wasn’t sure how yuna was going to react to it, but she most certainly didn’t expect an explosion of giggles.

“look at us being all sappy and shit, you deadass sounded like you were reciting a marriage vow.” yuna’s cheek and nerve were definitely back in full flow, and ryujin couldn’t stop herself from flushing a deep red.

“you started it! i just thought it would be courteous of me to at least muster up some effort to reply so you wouldn’t feel like a weirdo.”

“yeah, yeah, whatever you say, loser.”

“let me remind you that you adore this loser.”

“thanks, but i didn’t really need the reminder.” yuna had a satisfied smirk on her face as she tapped lightly on ryujin’s nose. ryujin’s breath caught in her throat as yuna leaned in inch by inch. yuna was so, so breathtakingly beautiful, no words could truly do justice to how gorgeous she really was up close. her face must have been painstakingly sculpted by the gods, each feature was that inch-perfect.

then, as was becoming maddeningly(or endearingly) common, yuna ruined the moment with her trademark high-pitched laugh.

“you were expecting more, weren’t you?”

“n-no, what do you mean? w-was something supposed to happen?” ryujin cursed herself mentally, what a whipped, blabbering, ineloquent mess she was.

“i may have been thinking of kissing you, but maybe your dense ass doesn’t deserve it after all.”

“hey, hey, i was just messing with you, y’know, i totally saw it coming.”

truth be told, ryujin didn’t really know what she had expected. she knew that there had been couples who made out and fucked everyday of the games, possibly due to the added motivation of attracting sponsors.(you’d be surprised by the sheer amount of individuals who simply gobbled up the lewd material greedily)

she would be lying if she said she wasn’t at least slightly interested in the prospect, but she was in no hurry at all. and for that matter, neither was yuna, it seemed. she appreciated that. it proved their bond ran much deeper than merely being based on lust, too superficial a factor for ryujin’s liking. and so whatever the audience might have craved between two of the most physically attractive females out there, they didn’t get, for they did nothing. nothing from an outsider’s perspective, perhaps, but the fleeting kisses, light banter and the deep stares of love certainly meant something to both of them, long lost in their own little world.

~

ryujin jolted awake with a start, all senses on high alert. oops. maybe she shouldn’t have been sleeping during her watchdog shift. a leopard never changes its spots, she supposed. but either way, she had been rudely awakened by the sudden ‘thump’ that had sounded far too close for comfort. indeed, upon quick inspection, she eyed a wooden box that had seemingly just fallen from the sky right by her side. probably another one of yuna’s sponsors...she glanced at the girl sprawled out clumsily a few metres away, and couldn’t help but let out a quiet chuckle when yuna let out a soft snore.

yuna always pushed her body to the brink of her physical constraints when they were in the thick of the unforgiving daily brawls, she deserved as much rest as she could get. ryujin decided not to wake her. she could just surprise her later with whatever delicious concoctions her sponsor had bestowed upon her. what would it be this time? ryujin was secretly hoping for that snail dish she had feasted upon back in the capitol. 

she frowned after opening the box as discreetly as she could. her fanciful dreams of snails had been dashed swiftly and ruthlessly, which was fair enough, but where was the damn food? groping around in the box, ryujin could only feel a cold, hard surface encompassing almost the entire area within the box. oh well. yuna would surely know better. 

at that instant, her fingers closed around something thin and soft. it felt extremely fragile, particularly in comparison to the gritty material which made up the chilly surface. she fished it out of the box gently, making sure not to cause it any damage and was rather relieved when an intact piece of paper appeared on her palm.

ryujin could just about make out what appeared to be hasty scribbles thanks to the abnormally bright moonlight on offer that night. (she wondered whether the moon that was visible within the arena was even real)

‘dearest ryujin, julia here. first of all, i need to apologise for how late this has come. you were probably thinking that no one had taken an interest in you, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. your stock has risen massively, and there were many willing benefactors ready to send you food, weapons and the like. i told them to hold off their generous offerings temporarily so that we could pool the funds all together and get you this baby. this is a devastatingly powerful device, and i have complete faith that you will be able to use it to your advantage. oh, and before i forget, this is an urgent reminder. remember what i said about not getting emotionally attached to anyone? i’m not sure if that’s been wiped out from your memory or you’re just much more cunning than i thought, but you can’t let your guard down around shin yuna. she’s capable of slitting your throat in the time it takes for you to blink your eyes—’

ryujin crushed the piece of paper. she had read enough.

~

‘jesus, ryu, this is some high-end, state-of-the-art contraption!” yuna exclaimed, her mouth repeatedly opening and closing like that of a goldfish. “that sponsor must have been ridiculously stacked.”

“what is this even supposed to be?”

“beats me, but we’ll find out.” yuna pressed the button that read ‘aragone’ without hesitation, causing ryujin to flinch instinctively, as if expecting the man mountain to emerge out of the shadows upon being summoned.

nothing happened. ryujin and yuna exchanged confused expressions, before jolting in shock as an unpleasant noise belted out from the device out of the blue. it reminded ryujin of a dying pig’s grunt, and boy was it loud. yuna scrambled to fiddle with the machine and let out a whine of annoyance.

“oh my god, it was at maximum volume. no wonder i almost got a heart attack.” yuna clutched her chest dramatically. ryujin ignored yuna’s theatrics for once, straining to make out the mystery sound repeatedly emanating from the machine, each repetition sounding increasingly strangled. it really didn’t sound human. 

yuna shrugged. “moving on. how about i try myself?” ryujin waited with bated breath as yuna pressed the button labelled with her name. complete, utter silence greeted the two girls. 

“what’s this?” yuna cried out in frustration, head in her hands, before her eyes widened abruptly. as had ryujin’s. for yuna’s voice had just echoed loud and clear from the device. 

“hold up.” ryujin and yuna exchanged stunned looks as yuna’s voice was projected out yet again. 

“we can hear whatever the other tributes are doing!” yuna exclaimed excitedly, clapping her hands in glee.

ryujin smirked, quipping dryly, “this just makes me wonder whether aragone moves around with a pet pig in tow or he simply snores like a buffalo twice his size.”

“probably the latter, but i really wouldn’t be surprised if he had some pig fetish or something.” yuna replied distractedly, pressing the button labelled ‘felix’.

“who’s this?”

yuna put a finger to her lips. “shhh, let’s just listen.”

ryujin leaned as close as possible to the machine, ears fully pricked up, but the new sound was tricky to make out. “is it just me who can’t distinguish between the noise in our surroundings and that from the machine? i just hear vigorous rustling of leaves, but the sound could be coming from anywhere.”

yuna nodded gravely. “that’s exactly why it’s so scary. to answer your previous question, felix will be familiar to you. however, you know him better as tarzan.”

“that’s not good.” 

“i’d say that’s putting it mildly.”

~

“calling all tributes, i repeat, calling all tributes, do listen up, for this announcement is going to flip the entire complexion of this hunger games on its head! have you felt like you’re too weak to kill, to have someone’s blood on your hands? that if you decided to go head-on with one of those frightening competitors, you would be beaten to a pulp? here’s your chance to change all that! introducing: the death note. simply write the name of another tribute you wish to see eliminated, and that poor soul will have to bear the brunt of all your deep-seated grudges and resentment. trust us, try as he or she may, there will be no escaping the clutches of death. two death notes will be released at different times today, and their locations will be made known to all 9 of you still hanging in there. until then, just keep your eyes and ears peeled!

“fuck that voice.” ryujin sighed in exasperation, rather annoyed by the ever-changing dynamics of the battlefield. to make matters worse, the chirpy, squeaky tone of the announcer grated on her nerves. it was like the screech of metal on metal. disgusting.

“how do you think we should approach this? it doesn’t exactly favour us.” yuna furrowed her brows, tapping her head with a single finger as if seeking inspiration. ryujin could almost see the gears whirring vigorously within her head.

“i don’t expect that we’ll be targeted, right? given the choice, wouldn’t the others wanna get rid of aragone and tarzan as quickly as possible?” ryujin was fairly certain about her assertion, for surely no one was keen to fight either of the two brutes head-on.

“i suppose, but you have to bear in mind that we have punched well above our weight thus far. i think we’ve done the most combined damage among all the tributes, so people will have started to sit up and take notice. mentors will have found a way to spread the messages and we’ll end up having a big target on our backs.” yuna mused, twirling her hair around her index finger lazily.

“so you think we should go for it?”

“i think we should make our way to the vicinity first, then monitor the situation using that hearing machine thing. if we think either one of us is at risk of getting arrowed, we intervene and turn the tables.” 

“sounds like a plan.”

~

that was how they found themselves crouching amongst a dense thicket, listening gadget held between them in yuna’s hand, back to back so all angles of possible ambush could be covered. ryujin wished she still had her trusty axe with her. the makeshift weapon she had little choice but to settle for, a thick branch with jagged edges(the one yuna had tripped over the day before), while probably still potentially lethal, didn’t quite feel the same in her grasp.

expectedly, the reaction of the tributes to the announcement was decidedly lukewarm. they had heard aragone huff about how this was clearly a conspiracy to eliminate by far the most outstanding candidate(obviously referring to himself) without even lifting a finger. it was just business as usual for tarzan who never seemed to stop climbing trees. some of the remaining allied tributes scoffed at how this was an obvious ploy to lure everyone together so more fighting, gore and drama would be created. a different alliance were determined to get their hands on the note and take aragone out of the reckoning.

as due reward for their enthusiasm towards the new development, ryujin and yuna had been listening in on that alliance since they both heard and saw a red flare being fired towards the heavens, somehow managing to form the words ‘death note’.

it had been almost half an hour since the eavesdropping had begun, and they had yet to hear anything juicy or even the least bit important. their conversations served as nothing more than comic relief, really, what with one of the girls screaming bloody murder after having glimpsed movement of her own fucking shadow and another obsessing over monitoring each and every tree closely. (ok, that was far more understandable, to be fair, ryujin could certainly relate to tarzan paranoia.)

so when she heard a jubilant ‘i’ve found it!’, she sat upright so quickly her head clashed with that of yuna, who must have done the same.

cue loud cheers and whoops of delight as if they had won the hunger games altogether. “so much for being stealthy and not causing commotions of any sort.” yuna scoffed cynically, and ryujin couldn’t help but crack a smile. 

“it’s bound to be their downfall, mark my words.” yuna insisted, ryujin could almost hear the pout in her voice.

the hollers, high-fives and aggravating talking over each other of the girls finally petered out when the most sensible and rational(probably) one decided to shush her compatriots. “guys, keep it down, remember? we don’t want aragone lapping up our brain juice before we write his name.”

“looking for me?” oh my god. chills shot up ryujin’s spine and goosebumps rose up on seemingly the entire expanse of her exposed skin. that low, ominous, robotic, mortifying voice was all too familiar. ryujin felt her heart begin to race, and she wasn’t even looking at him in the flesh. a storm was brewing. and its name was aragone.

for a few agonising seconds that seemed to stretch into eternity, the device stayed absolutely silent. then the desperate screams and frantic footsteps exploded into a deafening burst of white noise. 

“i knew this was gonna happen, but i still feel so bad for them.” yuna muttered, wincing slightly upon a particularly blood-curdling scream ringing through the device.

“his movement is actually pretty sloppy, though, they may have a chance of getting away.” ryujin reasoned, the memory of his pathetic attempt at pursuing tarzan fresh in her mind.

yuna simply shook her head grimly. “i hate to break it to you, but they’re nowhere near as quick as tarzan is. cannons incoming anytime now.”

yuna was never wrong, ryujin marvelled mere minutes later, the combination of despondent pleas, cries of pain and grief followed by 3 cannons in quick succession all but confirming her prediction. looking completely unruffled, yuna merely reached for the button labelled ‘aragone’.

“death note? ha! these common folk are so desperate to see me down and out of the running, that they resort to such underhand, grotesque means to put me out of contention. i’ll have you know, viewers and tributes alike, that i, aragone velra, am not going down this week!”

the sound of paper being torn cleanly echoed in their ears.

“death note? what death note?”


	6. Chapter 6

julia sometimes felt that it was harder being a viewer of the hunger games rather than a competitor. as a competitor, the name of the game was self-preservation. that is, unless you were one of those who had thrown in the towel from the very beginning, or one of those lovesick fools determined to sacrifice oneself for the survival of their other half. 

she didn’t really think death was something to be feared. sure, the fleeting moments after one had come to the sobering realisation that death was imminent would probably bring about an onset of gripping panic and terror. but death would take care of all that. a peaceful equilibrium would be reached once again, this time for good. what was death but eternal rest, really? one would never even know if they had died. 

death took away all the pains and problems faced in life, so julia could sympathise with individuals with suicidal thoughts or partook in self-harm. why live in eternal pain, languishing in the doldrums far below the healthy equilibrium when one could numb the pain once and for all? 

she recognised that those who held you dear to them would be devastated, but by that point the deceased would literally be incapable of feeling or sensing anything at all, so wouldn’t it not matter anymore? maybe julia just had a terribly selfish mindset purely founded on self-interest. so it was funny that now she found herself in the shoes of those worrying incessantly over those they held dear to them.

for all that she had told ryujin not to get attached to anyone in the games, she wasn’t exactly doing a great job of abiding by her mantra herself. (that she really did believe in, ok, it was just hard to say no to the heart)

she was still a little wary about shin yuna(it was in her nature, plain and simple), but the number of times she had dug ryujin out of a death-sized hole, and vice versa, had almost convinced her that their bond ran deeper than most of the alliances formed out of desperation and due to convenience. they were the epitome of the lovesick fools she had mentioned earlier, and she had to admit the power of love was nothing to be sniffed at. that, unfortunately, would make the inevitable parting even more painful. she feared that even if ryujin survived, she would become a shell of her former self, a living vessel numb to feeling and wallowing in self-hatred.

she was looking too far ahead. shaking her head, she refocused her attention on the screen. fantasising about the future should be the least of her concerns, given the countless pressing issues that could crop up and bring ryujin’s games to an abrupt halt. the most pressing one being the creepy guy currently stalking the two girls from high above. for fuck’s sake.

~

ryujin had complete faith in her sixth sense. it had bailed her out of many a tight spot, from all the way back in her impoverished days stealing fruit after fruit from the oblivious vendor to just the day before in her scrappy encounter with the leaf-disguised girl. and well, something was up. the hairs on the back of her neck were standing, and she was becoming hyper aware of her surroundings. yuna, for her part, didn’t seem to sense anything amiss, looking all hot and bothered but continuing to trudge along the uneven ground manfully. 

this game was seriously making her paranoid. heck, she was so disillusioned with the morbidly sick concept of this entire event. the longer one survived in the games, the more one would stray from one’s principles, highly malleable values, mindsets and behaviours would be moulded into that of a sadistic savage, so what was the point of winning the games, really? they wouldn’t be getting shin ryujin, they would be getting an insane shin ryujin. you’re doing this for yuna, she reminded herself, just take everyone else out, bid her a proper farewell and put myself out of my misery…

on hindsight, she really shouldn’t have tried to distract herself from her tingling spidey senses. she heard it first and foremost, a rustling of the foliage which would have been innocuous enough should the air not been completely still at that point in time. she turned her head skywards, crouching slightly while grasping her branch more firmly. she had saw this coming. and she was going to stop it.

well, she was right, to a certain extent. an imposing figure came hurtling towards her like a bullet train, leaving her with no time whatsoever to react. the collision came a half-second later, upon which she involuntarily grunted, the wind completely knocked out of her lungs as she collapsed feebly to the ground. all she could register in that split second was that yuna was screaming. oh no. she had to help—

her head suddenly felt like it was on fire, the flames licking away ravenously at her mind and incinerating all coherent thoughts to an absolute crisp. heck, she could practically even see the flames, a sea of red enveloping her field of view before it all exploded into all-consuming blackness.

~

ryujin could feel her head pulsating, each darned throb sending a piercing surge of pain coursing through her entire body, which felt as stiff as a rock. she felt as if she had lost the mastery over her own body, only being able to feel overwhelming pain but not retain any of her bodily functions. she couldn’t feel any of her own damn limbs. 

ryujin began to bend her arm in an attempt to rub her eyes and clear her fuzzy vision. or at least, she tried to. it wouldn’t budge an inch. frowning, she blinked furiously while gazing intently downwards at herself. bit by bit, her blurry vision began to clear, and when ryujin made out thick ropes looped unbearably tightly around herself, her heart began to race uncontrollably yet again. it all came flooding back, the spying device, the death note, tarzan’s ambush, yuna’s screams…

ryujin’s eyes widened. fuck, where was yuna? was she hurt? had she also been captured by tarzan? she craned her neck desperately to little effect, for she could barely even rotate her head. both the ropes and the worry was ludicrously suffocating. as much as she wriggled and squirmed in whatever inch of space available to her, the slackening of the ropes, if any at all, was essentially negligible.

“you’re a stubborn one, aren’t you? ugh, you’re lucky i enjoy the challenge of feisty fighters, or i would have blown your brains out long ago.” ryujin froze as an unfamiliar, raspy voice drifted into her ears. 

“get your dirty hands off me!” that enraged shriek could only have come from yuna. ryujin took slight solace in the fact that while they were in a hell of a sticky situation, hey, they were both still alive and kicking. as she strained every last sinew in her eyes to look as far right as possible, she managed to catch a glimpse of tarzan dragging yuna forward roughly, grimacing at the effort it took to move the girl who was resisting with all she had, in spite of both her hands and legs being bound together tightly.

yuna was valiantly fighting a losing battle, unfortunately, with tarzan able to slowly but surely guide her in a direction straight ahead of ryujin. ryujin, staring straight ahead, was able to meet yuna’s eyes as she continued to resist tarzan’s power. she didn’t know what to do, really, but she hoped her eyes conveyed her concern and confusion towards their situation. 

it seemed that the brief moment of eye contact may have given yuna renewed vigour, for she subsequently gritted her teeth and leaned her full body weight backwards against the direction tarzan was pulling her in. instead of being continually hauled forward, however, yuna was sent crashing to the ground hard. ryujin let out an involuntary, strangled cry, and tarzan immediately met her eyes, a devilish smirk spreading across his face and a wicked glint prominent in his eye.

“you really like it down there, don’t you? seeing how hard you were trying to smash your ass on the ground, you can fucking stay where you are unless you become more compliant.” tarzan’s words directed at yuna were of such a casual, flippant tone it almost sounded like a joke. 

but the way he refocused his attention on ryujin, rubbing his hands in glee, was truly no laughing matter.  
“ah, your friend’s finally conscious. now the fun can truly begin.”

he carelessly grabbed yuna’s collar with more force than necessary, that evil smirk not leaving his face and pulled her all the way to the tree directly opposite the one ryujin was tied to. ryujin was surprised at the lack of resistance demonstrated by yuna, perhaps she had concluded that there wasn’t much point in wasting her energy on a lost cause. 

“i’ve kindly given you a backrest, so please do behave.” tarzan warned as he stepped aside, rummaging through his backpack and retrieving a seemingly never-ending supply of rope. he proceeded to loop the rope around yuna’s entire body without missing a beat, whistling cheerfully as he did so. ryujin tried desperately to meet yuna’s eyes, to at least attempt some form of communication, come up with some form of plan, but yuna’s gaze was fixated directly on the ground. either she was resigned to their fate and was trying to come to terms to it, or she was racking her brain furiously to get them both out of their life-threatening plights. ryujin could only hope it was the latter.

in the meantime, tarzan was doing something strange. he had successfully strapped yuna to the tree already, but he seemed to be going one step further, looping the rope around her right arm which was stretched out directly in front of her, holding it in place in that awkward position.

“what the fuck do you think you are doing?” yuna glared daggers at the deranged psychopath in front of her. if only looks could kill, ryujin mused, tarzan would be screaming and writhing on the ground in pain before he succumbed to a brutal death at the hands of yuna’s piercing stare.

“patience, sweetheart, you’ll find out real soon, don’t fret. why are you in a hurry?” he cooed in a singsong manner. ryujin felt like puking her guts out.

“i couldn’t have just let you two perish without having some of my fun, could i? where’s the fun in death if the pain comes and goes in the blink of an eye? the agony and the suffering has to be prolonged and drawn out, of course.” this guy was genuinely insane, in every sense of the word. it sent shivers down ryujin’s spine.

“i’m doing this for the viewers too, you know? gotta spice it up with some drama. a little birdie told me that you two were a thing, and what do you think the most essential ingredient to add some flavour to the games would be? love, of course.” ryujin would have been seething with rage if she had been paying more attention to the drivel he was spouting, but she was only half-listening. she was trying to find some way, any way to escape from the obstinate ropes that did not ease the pressure exerted upon her in the slightest.

rubbing the ropes against the tree bark had negligible effect, the ropes were far too thick for her teeth to saw through...and ryujin was out of ideas. fucking hell. 

“ok, let me cut to the chase. the tall one, you’re a career, aren’t you? i’m sure you know your way around a gun. you’re going to be shooting your friend, girlfriend, whatever. i’ll give you one minute to end her life on your own terms. depending on whether i’m satisfied with your performance, i may even spare your life. if you don’t shoot, i will shoot both of you. is that clear?” yuna stared at her, a expression one of despair and dismay, and ryujin’s probably exactly mirrored that of yuna’s, as tarzan placed a handgun into the palm of yuna’s outstretched right arm.

“you can go ahead and say your last words to each other, i’m not that cruel. gamemakers, i’ve done a superb job, haven’t i? i’m expecting some form of reward when your ratings inevitably skyrocket.” he grinned cheekily and waved enthusiastically to the drone camera hovering some distance above them.

it took ryujin a while to feel the true impact of his words. when she did, she was completely floored, as if she had just been run over by a truck. she had mere seconds to live. she had mere seconds left with the girl of her dreams, the only person that had ever really mattered in her life, the only person who made her feel like life was worth living for. and ironically, that very person would be the one to bring the curtain down on ryujin’s last dance.

but she had to sacrifice herself if it meant yuna would get another crack of the whip. yuna was so resourceful, so intelligent, so beautiful that she had so much to live for. she could be anything she wanted to be. what was ryujin going to do even if she survived? go back to roaming the filthy streets of her district as an empty shell, physically hanging in there but spiritually long since a goner?

“yuna, do what you have to do. i don’t mind if it’s you, i’ll have accomplished my goal. just know that i love you, i really do, and i will love you forever, even after i’m gone. i believe we’ll meet again somewhere else, and hopefully in more ideal circumstances.” ryujin spoke from the bottom of her heart, and she hoped her earnest gaze conveyed the avalanche of feelings threatening to bury her soul.

“drop it, ryu, i’d rather die than live without you, you and i both know that. instead of meeting again in the future, how about we never leave each other’s sides even after death do us part? there wouldn’t even need to be a reunion.” yuna replied in a gentle voice, smiling softly at ryujin, and ryujin momentarily forgot the predicament they were in, because her heart was so full and she felt so happy and loved. and then that all evaporated with tarzan’s nonchalant snap of the fingers.

“that was disgustingly sweet, you know? you’re making me feel bad for playing the villain in this love story. it’s a pity that you two beautiful girls are going to heaven just like that, but look on the bright side, you get to go together!” tarzan sauntered over towards yuna, who hadn’t taken her eyes of ryujin the entire time.

he grabbed the gun out of yuna’s limp grasp and pointed it at ryujin. “well, who wants to go first?” his smile was sickeningly sweet.

staring down the barrel of the gun, scattered memories of her eighteen years of existence flashed before ryujin’s eyes. she supposed that what they said was true: when you were going to die, it was almost as if a highlight reel of your life was created spontaneously by your brain. she saw the lovely old man smiling kindly at her, the furious shop assistant waving her fist in the air as she sprinted away gleefully, a whole loaf of fluffy white bread dangling from her fingertips. most of all, she saw yuna. their awkward first encounter, the strikingly attractive image of yuna coolly dispatching of eric and saving her life, the countless soft kisses they had shared under the bright moonlight of the hunger games arena.

content, she braced herself for the shot, the agony, the ending. it’d be over quick, at least.

just then, a set of thunderous footsteps echoed in ryujin’s ears, getting louder alarmingly quickly. ryujin cracked open her eyelids, unable to stifle her curiosity. even tarzan was now looking over his shoulder with uncertainty, the arm with which he had previously trained his aim on ryujin’s head tentatively being lowered.

from then on, everything seemed to happen in slow-motion. a mutt twice the size of the one yuna and ryujin had taken down earlier came barreling through the cluster of bushes surrounding them, roaring menacingly while making a beeline straight for tarzan. tarzan barely had enough time to flinch before the monster was all over him like a caged beast who hadn’t been fed for weeks, firstly sending him flying with a headbutt at full speed and then puncturing his neck with its razor-sharp fangs, tarzan’s entire head already inside its humongous mouth. ryujin’s eyes widened to the point she was sure they were on the verge of popping out of their sockets as the mutt began swinging tarzan around wildly like a ragdoll by the neck, blood splattering like a fountain all around the surrounding ground before his body was sent hurtling into the distance. the mutt continued to munch on tarzan’s head in satisfaction, blood oozing out of the side of its mouth, its fangs completely stained a deep crimson red. she thought she might have even seen some green, gooey substance that was probably brain juice. the overwhelming urge to vomit was practically becoming impossible to hold in, but ryujin forced herself to. who knew, if she so much as moved a muscle, she could be next in line.

miraculously, when the mutt had finally finished savouring tarzan’s brain matter and flesh, it galloped off speedily without sparing the two girls a second glance.

little did they know, only a few kilometres away, anthony pennington, an unremarkable, borderline cowardly boy from district 6 was currently shaking with indescribable fear and cowering in the corner of the cave aragone had backed him into. 

“spare me, please, i beg of you, i mean no harm, i didn’t even write your name here, i promise!” anthony was panicking now, arms flailing wildly about. why can’t my point get through to this dense giant? it wasn’t just gripping fear he was experiencing, he was also struggling to accept that jon, his ally whom he had fully trusted since the start of the games, had hurriedly fled without looking behind his back even once upon seeing the frightening career tribute sneaking up on them from behind, leaving him in the lurch.

“that’s very kind of you, sir. as reward for your astounding benevolence, i’ll be sure to make this as quick and as painless as possible.” aragone grabbed the quivering anthony by the collar, wielding his butcher knife in his right hand, and slit anthony’s throat swiftly and decisively. the lifeless body of anthony slid limply to the ground, blood absolutely pouring out of the deep gash in his throat. 

the crumpled piece of paper that had slipped out of anthony’s grasp landed right smack in the centre of the rapidly expanding pool of blood, the faint handwriting on the slip of paper no longer visible.

unbeknownst to everyone left standing in the arena, only one word had been written: ‘felix’.

and then there were four.


	7. Chapter 7

“and...there you go. as free as a bird once again.” yuna chuckled at the huge yet very much genuine sigh ryujin released as the last of the godforsaken ropes that had bound her painfully to the tree were finally cut. upon recovering from the immense shock at having seen tarzan absolutely maimed and mauled by the mutt, waves of relief had washed over ryujin profusely. however, there was still the pressing problem of how the fuck they were to escape from the seemingly immovable ropes.

yuna had been the one to step up, as she so often was. she had somehow managed to shimmy towards her left, where tarzan’s knife had fallen, presumably when the mutt had rammed into him mercilessly. even more dexterity was exhibited when she clamped the knife’s blade between her boots, before proceeding to rock back and forth, slicing through the ropes slowly yet steadily. ryujin just hoped yuna hadn’t seen the dumbstruck expression plastered across her face while she worked her magic.

ryujin often felt at least a twinge of guilt or a pang of sadness when a cannon fired. that cursed blast signalled the end of the road for yet another one of her peers. it marked the complete descent of innocent youths with their entire futures ahead of them to wild savages out for each other’s blood and finally, to rotten, disfigured corpses which would be disposed of without a second glance. but upon hearing tarzan’s cannon? not so much. rather, the overriding emotion was that of tremendous relief. after all, if his cannon hadn’t been fired, it would have been theirs instead.

“we’re down to four.” yuna stated matter-of-factly, fiddling with the device that tarzan had stashed into his own backpack. “as expected, aragone’s still in the mix, as is...jon thorpe.” ryujin didn’t even recall seeing the name jon previously, but then again, she had always been bad with names.

she may have been counting their chickens before they hatched, but she was liking their odds at this point in the game. as long as the two guys didn’t gang up to battle them head-on, she was confident that they had the chops to eliminate each individual in separate duels. plus, aragone would probably snap jon’s neck the moment they crossed paths, let alone form an alliance with someone who could potentially weigh him down or stab him in the back. you got the feeling he wasn’t much of a team player.

“at least we finally won’t need to worry about the prospect of some creepy fucker lurking in the shadows high above, ready to strike unsuspecting tributes any time he wishes to.” ryujin offered yuna a tired yet genuine smile. the sense of mystery constantly shrouding tarzan had nagged at ryujin’s mind from the very beginning of the games, and it felt like a massive weight had been lifted from her chest.

“considering he sucked all the life out of me earlier, it’s only right i replenish my energy with his food, don’t you think? now he had some loaded sponsors.” yuna let out a low whistle as she rummaged through his backpack, her hands emerging with an assortment of juicy sandwiches, cookies and fruits.

as if on cue, ryujin’s stomach rumbled embarrassingly loudly. she winced, but yuna merely laughed that familiar, genuine, trademark childlike laugh of hers that always made her feel right at home. 

she tossed a sandwich which ryujin just about managed to grab flimsily. “looks like you need this even more than i do.”

~

aragone let out a breathy chuckle. the sponsors needed to calm the fuck down. the rest of the games would be a mere formality, the finish line very much in sight. he could even get away with strolling nonchalantly to the finish line, slowly savouring the honour, pride and fame that he would surely be accorded with by his die-hard supporters.

however, it seemed his sponsors might desire him to deliver the knockout blows as quickly as possible, if the convoluted piece of technology he was currently meddling with was any indication. for all that he may generally have been viewed as a brainless thug both by the public and the other weakling tributes, he wasn’t a career tribute for no reason. while he never quite expected all the painfully boring technology lessons to be put to use in the games, he supposed this was where all that seemingly useless jargon came into play.

after about half an hour of trying to figure the damned machine out, (he wasn’t dumb, ok, his brain was just rusty and his memories of those depressing classes were very much faded) aragone finally got it right, angrily stabbing the button that read ‘deploy drone’ as if it had provoked him.

everyone’s trying to help me win when i don’t even need help, he thought, they must have put a lot of money on me to take it all. in no time at all, much to aragone’s annoyance, the machine started beeping incessantly and as a result suffered numerous harsh blows all over its shiny metal body.

when it became clear that violence was absolutely not going to resolve the issue of technology’s unbreakable will, aragone threw in the towel on that front, (sure, beep as much as you want, you noisy fuck, i’ll smash your buttons and chips into tiny shards after this is all over) instead focusing as best as he could on the virtual map illustrated on the device’s screen. three new red-coloured icons had appeared along with the yellow icon that represented his current location, each icon representing one of the poor little lambs still waiting to be sheared and gobbled up.

two of them were side by side, a good distance away to his east, while the other was even further, combing the outskirts of the arena to his south. he laughed out loud without a care in the world, knowing no one was nearby to hear him. not that it would have mattered, for he could break their necks with his bare hands, but still. 

the lone wolf had to be the scrawny boy who had fled in an absolute frenzy upon sensing his presence earlier, leaving his ally to die. aragone shook his head in mock disapproval. where was the honour and valour in that man? he should teach him a lesson afterwards. that would be a satisfying last kill to get, he could play the puppet master toying with the boy on a string.

first things first, he had to deal with those two girls that were still in contention, and were much more credible threats than that pathetic boy could ever aspire to be. there was that troublemaking career who had vehemently refused to be a part of the traditional career alliance from the very start, and according to his mentor, had been the one responsible for his allies taking their final breaths while he was off chasing that monkey of a human. 

he would have killed them off eventually either way, but he would have preferred being able to get more sleep with allies to keep watch. as it was, he had barely slept a wink the past two nights, for fear that the sneaky career would drive an arrow straight through his heart during his slumber. her ally, he didn’t think much of her. he didn’t even know her name; what she looked like. she had probably just gotten lucky and ridden on the coattails of the career for the entirety of the games.

it was best that he finished the job as soon as possible, before the accumulated fatigue started to take an even greater toll. he would never admit it out loud, but he was feeling mildly dizzy and faint. just one more day, one will be enough to wrap this up and then i can sleep for consecutive days without a care in the world, he convinced himself.

~

ryujin and yuna had set up for the night, oblivious to the fact that aragone was hot on their tail, much closer than they would have expected. they had travelled a good distance in search of a water source, to be fair, so perhaps it was understandable that they didn’t expect to be hunted down at their base for the night next to a small pond. 

they watched silently as the announcer reported the two most recent deaths so enthusiastically you would think felix and anthony had won the lottery. ryujin supposed they somewhat did. unfortunately for them, the prize just happened to be death.

“we should eat up, i have a feeling that the victor will be determined tomorrow. they’re gonna find some way to flush us to a common area and delight the viewers when all hell breaks loose.” yuna handed me an apple and some cookies from tarzan’s generous stash of goodies. “and i’m going to make sure you’re the last one standing.”

“likewise.” they both chuckled, knowing full well it would be pointless to try and convince each other otherwise. ryujin allowed herself to imagine the prospect of victory, since she didn’t intend to be the one experiencing it for real. she hadn’t attended a victory parade bar julia’s, which was a surreal experience in itself because her mentor was only thirteen at the time. would she receive the deafening cheers, the uncontrollable adulation and the everlasting fame that the young julia had previously? probably not.

for one, julia was a goddamn tiny thirteen year old. it wasn’t every year a thirteen year old won the games. the capitol, and even the other districts, had adored the charming little girl with the iron will and the clever tongue. herself, a surly eighteen year old with about as much charm as a dead caterpillar, was unlikely to be well received in the slightest.

the other more impactful reason was simply that julia had family and friends. ryujin distinctly remembered julia getting wrapped in crushing bearhugs over and over, be it from her doting, weeping mother or that silly girl with braided hair julia was always with. she had none of the sort. the only person she had was yuna, and if she was the one attending the victory parade, it could only mean that yuna wouldn’t be able to come with her.

how pathetic, really. even if she got home, no one would be waiting for her. even if she got rich, she would have nothing to spend the money on. even if she got famous, she would much rather flee from the prying eyes of the general public. this was exactly why yuna had to be the one to win the games. she would finally get to see her parents again, who would be overjoyed and absolutely overcome with pride. her playful nature would enable her to captivate the masses and lap up the adoration from the crowds with consummate ease. she would embrace her new-found stardom and go on to bigger and better things.

ryujin smiled at the thought. her life would be a more than worthy sacrifice for yuna to blossom into a striking flower that stood out amongst the countless ordinary ones. hopefully she would be able to watch over yuna in the afterlife. completely consumed by the vivid imagery projected inside her head, ryujin almost forgot they were still very much in the thick of the hunger games, with two other hungry tributes out for their blood.

almost, until the foldable chair they had found in tarzan’s pack clattered to the floor noisily. ryujin tensed up, grabbing tarzan’s knife and rising into a defensive crouch. right beside her, she could see yuna loading an arrow into her bow, putting all her body weight on one knee. a massive overreaction to what could have been a mere rabbit’s work? not quite. yuna, being the all-prepared, genius career tribute she was, had created a makeshift security system to give them a headstart should an adversary encroach into their territory. the foldable chair had been placed on top of a tree stump, before yuna deftly tied rope around one of its legs, looping the rope across trees in a thirty metre radius, making sure the rope was taut before tying it to a sturdy, towering tree. 

the foldable chair collapsing was thus the clearest indication of a security breach and sent panic coursing through ryujin in a flurry of waves. she thought the day was over, but no. either someone had been tailing them, or had somehow just stumbled upon their location by chance. no matter what, she knew they were bound to be fighting tonight.

the air was still, silence engulfing their surroundings, with even the croaking of frogs and the singing of cicadas disappearing rather unnaturally. this made ryujin even more certain that confrontation was imminent, the gamemakers probably not wanting any forms of distraction for the big clash ahead. whoever it was was doing a fine job of staying hidden, perhaps he had sensed that something was fishy as well.

at least they had been left with the dying vestiges of the sun’s embers for their last stand. visibility wasn’t that much of an issue as it may have been at night. ryujin and yuna stood back to back, weapons at the ready, anticipating the first hint of any form of movement.

a branch snapped somewhere in front of ryujin. she swallowed involuntarily and took up a defensive stance, raising her knife tentatively. yuna spun around in a flash, taking aim at the general direction from which the noise had come. 

a plump rabbit peeked out from behind a tree and hopped towards them, then as if sensing it probably shouldn’t come closer and incense them further, turned tail and made a run for it. ryujin sighed in annoyance and aggravation, lowering her knife back to her belt. thank the heavens yuna hadn’t done the same with her bow, for it proved to be the last line of defence against the big rock that had been thrown with merciless force towards them, the bow knocked from yuna’s grasp but deflecting the rock to the side.

and then the hulking figure of aragone started to bear down on them, bulldozing through anything and everything in his path. yuna scrambled for the fallen bow, but those precious few seconds saw the giant close the distance between the pair to about a mere ten metres.

“run!” yuna yelled, and ryujin needed no further invitation to oblige. she stumbled forward blindly, straining her neck in an attempt to keep track of the situation. she watched yuna take cover behind a bulky tree, peeking out swiftly and firing off an arrow which found its way into aragone’s left shoulder. the brute let out an enraged roar mixed with the slightest hint of pain, of weakness, but he continued to stride forward relentlessly as if there weren’t an arrow burrowed deep into his shoulder. yuna bolted from the tree not a moment too soon, for a second later a knife had lodged itself impossibly deep into the tree she had just vacated.

ryujin was already a fair distance away from the two, and she felt like she was watching a replay of the scene earlier. yuna ducking and weaving between trees before pivoting around one and piercing aragone’s thigh with a clean shot, aragone letting out the cry of a provoked creature before letting fly with a knife which grazed yuna’s bad calf, thankfully not creating a deep gash but definitely drawing blood nonetheless.

it was at that instant that ryujin came to her senses. yuna was hurt, and she was fending off someone potentially three times her size single-handedly. why was she fleeing, making sure she remained in one intact piece while throwing yuna to the wolves? the incredible fear created upon aragone making his presence known had made ryujin momentarily forget her purpose, made ryujin make the most cowardly, spineless move possible. it wasn’t going to happen again. 

she sprinted towards the duo still intensely locked in battle at full tilt. yuna’s movement had clearly been afflicted even more than it already had been. despite her best efforts to outmanoeuvre the giant, she couldn’t manage much more than a limp or hobble. fortunately, aragone wasn’t faring much better himself, practically solely dependent on his one good leg to drag himself forward. ryujin wondered how he was even still moving.

as she drew nearer and nearer to him, she realised she hadn’t thought it through in the slightest. how was she going to take down this massive killing machine who stood a good few heads taller than her? she shrugged off her doubts, for there really wasn’t time to hesitate or think when she was closing in on him quickly. tightening her grip on the knife blade as if she were clinging on to her last hope(maybe she genuinely was), she swung her arm as hard as she possibly could towards his chest. 

alas, her arm didn’t move very far. a rough, calloused hand grabbed her forearm roughly and twisted it with shocking force. both the sudden loss of momentum and the surge of pain shooting through her shoulder caused the knife to slip from her grasp, and she was slammed hard against a tree before she knew it.

“i knew the only reason you were still alive was because of that bitch with the arrows.” aragone stared her down coldly through bulging, bloodshot eyes. “well, she’s not going to be able to save you anymore.” he clasped his right hand around ryujin’s neck and pressed it down against the tree with a force she never imagined humans could be capable of. 

ryujin couldn’t breathe. she wouldn’t have been surprised if her windpipe was being crushed at that very instant. her neck felt like it was going to crumble, going to disintegrate into nothingness under the frightening force of aragone’s hold. but she couldn’t give in without any form of resistance. even if she couldn’t save herself, she needed to at least weaken him as much as possible so he would be easy pickings for yuna. she wouldn’t last much longer before she became asphyxiated, but her oxygen-deprived brain managed to come up with one last brainwave. every man, no matter how big or small, how strong or weak, had one guaranteed weakness that could be exploited. and aragone’s was completely unguarded, ripe for the taking as he smiled evilly at ryujin, knowing she didn’t have much longer left to live.

ryujin channelled all her energy to her right leg before delivering a kick the best football player in the world would have been proud of. clean, hard and precise. the dramatic loosening of aragone’s grip around her throat was the biggest indication that ryujin had scored. the hulk of a man reeled backwards, face contorted in shock and agony, clutching his crotch area desperately.

ryujin wasn’t much better off, coughing and spluttering repeatedly as her needy lungs attempted to draw in too much air at one go. it was quite a spectacle, two individuals standing face-to-face, both essentially immobile for very different reasons. but that was when yuna swooped in, needing no further encouragement to fire an arrow mercilessly through the big man’s skull.  
aragone crumbled to the ground weakly, his eyes still bulging, his hand still grasping his balls, but his heart no longer beating.

the cannon fired, and ryujin slumped to the floor slowly in exhaustion. “ryu! you alright?” yuna’s voice was laced with worry, and ryujin could hear her footsteps drawing nearer.

“of course, i’ve never been better, in fact.” ryujin answered dryly, fingers brushing against her poor abused neck and emerging with drops of blood staining them. oh well, it could have been far worse. 

“you’re bleeding everywhere.” yuna pouted as she ran her hand through ryujin’s scalp, which ryujin hadn’t even realised was also bleeding. it must have been when aragone flung her viciously onto that tree.

“so are you.” ryujin pointed at yuna’s calf, which was worryingly dripping with blood.

“oh, right.” yuna looked down at the splotches of blood on her leg as if she had just remembered they existed. “i don’t think it’s that bad, just that my old wound reopened. it probably looks worse than it actually is.”

“my neck’s gonna bruise bad, but that’s about it. that loser got nothing on me.” ryujin quipped, and upon hearing yuna laugh heartily, she felt a sense of victory at the affirmation.

“how unbecoming of a lady, going straight for his little brother down below.”

“i never knew stereotypes existed in the hunger games.”

“they don’t.” yuna conceded easily. “real talk, though, that was really cool back there. you pretty much crippled the most powerful tribute with just one strong swipe of your leg.”

ryujin shuddered inadvertently as she watched the hovercraft lift aragone’s lifeless body into the air. “ i still can’t believe he’s dead. how did we, two scrawny girls, take down that man-machine who was built like an absolute tank?” (ryujin secretly loved the fact she could refer to him in the past tense)

“lucky for us that his balls are as vulnerable as any other mortal male out there.”


	8. Chapter 8

“you know, it’s meant to be the hunger games, but i don’t really recall feeling hungry at all these past few days.” ryujin remarked conversationally, voicing aloud the random thought that had just crossed her mind.

“we have good sponsors.” yuna’s voice was muffled by the big mouthful of sandwich she slowly chewed on. she swallowed before continuing, “no, actually, it’s mostly because of all the killing we’ve done and the supplies we managed to nick.”

“i think i’ve eaten far more here than i did back in district 10, in fact,” ryujin sighed wistfully. “but even if you offered me all the luxury in the world, i would still choose to go home in a heartbeat.”

“don’t worry, i’ll make sure you get home by tomorrow. then you’ll get to go home and live in luxury. perfect.” 

ryujin shook her head fondly. “tarzan got me thinking earlier, actually. the whole ‘she dies and you live’ game. i concluded that i would prefer dying with you than surviving by myself. you said it, didn’t you? they can’t separate us in the afterlife if we go there together.”

“maybe it’s time then, for us to take one for the team in the most morbid way imaginable. we sacrifice ourselves for the greater good, and we leave for the next life hand-in-hand.” ryujin wasn’t sure how this would sound to the cameras undoubtedly picking up on each and every one of their words, but she knew yuna wasn’t kidding around. the proposition was deadly serious.

“so...just like katniss and peeta, huh?”

“not exactly. i doubt they intended to kill themselves for real, i think it was an act, and a remarkably convincing one at that. if we really want to stir up mass unrest and dissatisfaction, we can’t give them a chance to stop us. we can’t give them even the slightest heads-up. imagine the uproar if the hunger games had no victor.” yuna grinned knowingly, raising her eyebrows as if seeking ryujin’s approval.

a soft smile spread across ryujin’s face. “i’m game if you are.”

~

something was undoubtedly fishy, but maybe julia should have seen it coming from a mile away. ryujin and yuna were without question the two heavy favourites to emerge victorious at this point of time, and she had received massive influxes of money from an army of new sponsors who had been enraptured by the plucky girl who seemingly had nine lives. 

in spite of the healthy capital inflow, she barely had enough money to afford anything besides basic food items, with the price of any sponsor gifts beyond exorbitant at this late stage in the games. and so the fact that the unremarkable jon thorpe had suddenly been bestowed with an assortment of weapons that ranged from a gleaming sickle to highly explosive grenades was highly dubious and questionable. the boy hadn’t even registered a single kill in the games thus far despite having secured a top three finish at the very worst!

the deadly arsenal of weapons being a sponsored gift was out of the question. but that left only one other possibility, one that was far more sinister. yuna and ryujin hadn’t exactly been discreet in their boiling hatred for the capitol and their plans to incite rage among each and every district to culminate in an uprising. the capitol would not have been happy with having to edit out the multitude of scathing remarks, and they most definitely would not be happy should any resistance to their rule arise in the near future. so it seemed they had picked their winner in advance.

the people of district 10 were in unprecedentedly high spirits, believing for the first time in many years that one of their own had a genuine shot of coming out on top. julia herself had even allowed herself to believe in ryujin’s fearlessness and innate knack for survival, instead of refusing to let her mentees into her heart like she had always done. but she knew now that it was a lost cause. for as much as ryujin was hardy and could call upon a ruthless streak, as much as the gamemakers couldn’t engineer their deaths such that they were too obvious about it, one thing would still hold true regardless.

you do not ever get the better of the capitol.

~

ryujin shivered involuntarily and burrowed herself as deep as possible into her sleeping bag in the face of the cruel assault of a particularly strong gust of wind. she usually had trouble staying awake to keep watch for any potential danger, but the biting cold of this night in particular ensured that nothing of the sort would be happening anytime soon. the incessant chattering of her teeth and the frequent bouts of full-body trembling brought back distinct memories of some nights back home spent weathering storms and blizzards without a roof over the top of her head.

she came to a belated, probably brain-freeze induced conclusion that she was rather well suited to the hunger games. for one, she knew what true hunger was. there had been many a day where she had to make do with insects as her main courses. those weren’t even the worst. during the harsh winters, with not an insect in sight, she had taken to forcibly shoving snow into her mouth to appease the gnawing hunger. it was pretty funny that the one advantage she had over all the other tributes, she hadn’t needed to make use of at all. yuna had fed her really, really well.

hiss.

ryujin’s reminiscing ended there and then all too abruptly, and she shifted herself into an upright position, cautiously pulling her backpack over her shoulders. 

more hisses, coupled with soft rustling of the leaves, and ryujin was on her feet in a flash, shaking yuna awake frantically. “yuna, we have to go.”

yuna, perhaps sensing the desperate urgency in ryujin’s voice, didn’t question her words in the slightest, getting to her feet while grabbing her backpack she had been using as a pillow. as yuna slung her trusty bow across her body, ryujin stared down the source of the unnatural sounds apprehensively.

when she caught sight of the offenders, she almost wished she hadn’t. the first hint of the frightening manner with which they were rapidly closing the distance was the glint of a silver fang in the moonlight. razor-sharp and no doubt uncompromisingly deadly. by the time she managed to make out an army of vipers hissing menacingly, they were already running.

it wasn’t long before ryujin realised that they weren’t going to be able to outrun the dogged serpents. if she was competing solo, she probably could. but yuna’s badly abused leg wouldn’t allow her to move at anything more than a clumsy limp. ugh. yuna had kept putting her body on the line to keep her out of harm’s way, and it was literally going to be the death of her unless ryujin stepped up to the plate and made herself useful for once. at the very least, she had snagged another axe from aragone’s fallen weapons, so it was as good a shot as she was going to get.

the vipers were almost upon yuna. any closer and ryujin feared yuna would suffer paralysis or poisoning or whatever it was those fangs were capable of. the leader of the pack was already baring its fangs, mouth open as wide as possible...and before ryujin even registered her movements or her actions, she had driven the axe straight through the viper’s wide-open mouth, the top of its jaw flung into the depths of the jungle along with violent splattering of blood.

that was merely the tip of the iceberg, the invitation for the party to be started. the vipers converged upon her in no time at all and she was left swinging in an unhinged manner out of pure desperation and fear. it was a bloodbath, a sea of red she left in her wake as she somehow managed to deliver fatal strikes of the axe over and over again. yuna chipped in as best as she could with her unerring aim, but only intervened when the vipers got too close to ryujin for comfort. ryujin understood, yuna couldn’t be wasting all her arrows in one fell swoop, and she was an absolute demon with the axe anyway.

(pride always comes before a fall).

her breathing becoming increasingly ragged, her shoulders positively screaming with exhaustion and her energy levels almost entirely depleted, ryujin was powerless to resist when she felt a strange pressure around her right leg, increasing in intensity every second, and she collapsed on the ground weakly after her futile attempts to continue backing off. the pressure over her leg was more like a stranglehold by that point, so enormous that ryujin was sure all blood flow to her feet had been completely cut off.

blinking sweat out of her eyes, ryujin strained her neck to look forward, equal parts confused and terrified as to what could have such a vice-like grip over her numb leg. realisation dawned upon her the moment she glimpsed the telltale striped pattern that encompassed the entire length of her limb, but she had little time to dwell over her revelation before a viper’s mouth, all nasty fangs and snake drool, was right in her face.

given her current state, there was really only one way she could have possibly prolonged her life that bit longer. mostly out of instinct, she grabbed the handle of the ax that was perched on her chest and shoved it straight into the mouth of the devil. 

the handle was snapped cleanly into two as if it were made of paper instead of what was probably hardy wood. well. it seemed she may have extended her life by only mere seconds. the viper tossed the axe to the side, and ryujin could have sworn she saw it lick its fangs hungrily while it sized up its helpless, juicy prey.

regardless of the prospect of death being all too real, ryujin just stared back unblinkingly. stared back defiantly(she was sure it was smirking at her). she had seen this before. and thus she had the ultimate front-row seat when an arrow whizzed by her cheek and speared the viper through both eyes, ensuring the image of ryujin squirming fruitlessly on the ground would be the last it would see in its lifetime. 

ryujin had also seen that before.

“get up quick! they’re almost on us!” ryujin could feel yuna dragging herself along as best as she could, but she wasn’t budging more than a few inches. and ryujin attempted to regain her footing, she did, but that darned viper coiled around her leg proved too cumbersome.

she was left to look on, eyes as wide as saucers, as the army of snakes surged forward eagerly, almost on top of her…...and then just stopped out of nowhere.

either they had reached the end of the snake zone, or the gamemakers had decided that it wouldn’t be entertaining enough for the hunger games to end via a snake attack. no matter what, they had definitely been pushed into the vicinity of the final tribute remaining. 

oh well. they’d cross that bridge when they came to it.  
yuna collapsed on the ground beside ryujin, chest rising and falling rapidly with each heavy breath she took. it took a good while of them lying there motionless before they recovered and had caught their breath sufficiently to speak once again.

“it’s funny how we’re trying our damned best to survive just so we can die together a few hours later.” ryujin managed to croak out with considerable effort, yet still sounding no more convincing than a dying toad.

“there is beauty in the struggle, don’t you think?” yuna smiled fondly as she registered the incredulous look ryujin shot at her. “hey, with our tragic fates already written in the stars, we do have to extract as much positivity out of them as possible.”

“you sound like one of those cheesy capitol poets.”

“i like to think i was always an artist at heart. a romantic. unfortunately, life never pans out the way you would like it to.”

“all we can cling onto is really just the fleeting moments of happiness interspersed between the futility and emptiness of life.” ryujin shook her head solemnly, before looking yuna straight in the eyes with conviction. “that’s why i’m so glad that i met you, because ultimately every moment spent with you is one illuminated by sunshine, tinged vividly with joyful colours.”

yuna wanted to close the distance and hug ryujin so badly, but her limbs felt like lead, and ryujin didn’t look like she was going to be able to move a muscle anytime soon. it would be up to her voice, then, to prolong the sparse moment of reprieve before unimaginable horrors descended upon their shattered bodies and souls yet again. to ensure the fragile bubble encapsulating ryujin’s ‘fleeting moments of happiness’ did not burst.

“and to think you were the one who said i was cheesy.”

~

they were beyond disgusting, jon thought. he’d listened in on the two girls’ conversation expecting to uncover their cunning ploys to take him out of the running only to have to suffer through a good fifteen minutes of sappy, madly-in-love conversation that had left him positively gagging. 

he’d never had much of a love life, purely down to choice. (jon would never admit to himself that the scars from getting rejected by the girl he had been crushing on for four years had run too deep for him to pursue any other fish in the sea and risk reopening old wounds that had never truly healed. then again, self-preservation counted as a choice, didn’t it?) 

the audience would be absolutely lapping up the romance narrative, and probably just wanted him gone for good so the real drama could ensue. he didn’t blame them. but that didn’t mean he would give them what they wanted. 

the tracking device he had received along with an astonishing array of weapons and even body armour showed two yellow dots inching closer and closer to the red dot signifying his current location. (how ludicrously rich did his benefactors have to be?) with any luck, the small grenade nestled snugly in the palm of his hand would pack enough punch to end this sick, twisted game once and for all. he somewhat had faith. the best things come in small packages after all, jon thought as he launched the grenade towards the unsuspecting couple.

~

the instant yuna caught a glimpse of the eerily familiar projectile hurtling in their direction, she knew it was over. they weren’t going to be able to get out of the grenade’s fatal radius, and even if they tried, they were effectively stranded thanks to their injury-induced sluggish movement. yuna simply clasped ryujin’s hand tighter in hers, choosing not to even give a warning, for there was no chance. the hunger games were over, and they had lost. 

until they hadn’t. yuna whirled around, more confused than ever. surely she couldn’t have been mistaken. for all that it was painfully boring, she had aced all grenade-related assessments back in training. as her eyes fell upon the spherical object only just rolling to a stop, her conviction only increased. she had thrown dozens of those before…why hadn’t it detonated and blown them to smithereens?

then she saw it. and she let out a disbelieving bark of a laugh. for it was eminently laughable. it was amateurish. it was so very lucky. the idiot hadn’t removed the safety pin. 

yuna snapped into action, grabbing the grenade and signalling for ryujin to take cover behind several thick shrubs. if they weren’t smart about this, the fool’s major slip-up would only serve to prolong the inevitable, no matter how incapable he was. 

and he was indeed highly incapable, yuna mused, as she watched him spin around in a panic, trying to identify the source of the arrow which had just clattered loudly off his body armour. useless he might have been, but if he had something going for him, it would be that his sponsors were filthy rich. even then, that could very well have been an understatement. jon was decked to the nines in protective gear, aforementioned body armour coupled with a hardy helmet leaving no visible weak spot to be targeted, with something that looked far too similar to a flamethrower in his grasp. 

it was borderline comical, really, for the undoubtedly impenetrable armour appeared to be too much for him to handle, the poor boy barely managing to lumber forward with all the agility of a sloth that had just been awakened from deep slumber. yuna almost felt sorry as she removed the safety pin from the grenade in her hand.

thanks for the grenade, she thought as she prepared to throw the deadly device, i’ll repay your kindness by showing you just how it should be used.

~

after the dust had settled, a cannon fired. and then there were two.


	9. Chapter 9

and then there were none. 

with the benefit of hindsight, julia had to admit that she pitied the capitol somewhat. ok, not really. but maybe there was a teeny-weeny iota of pity for them somewhere deep down inside of her. mostly for the fact that they had no choice but to leave their fate in the hands of jon thorpe, who had clearly been well out of his depth amongst the many merciless, cut-throat killers that made up the rest of the field.

the poor boy was dead, julia knew, but he had tripped over his own feet while trying to stumble away from the grenade thrown his way with deadly accuracy by yuna. it was that bad. for the simple and obvious fact that he was dead, she would hold back on the scathing criticism she could have dished out easily.

it hadn’t seemed obvious at the time, what with the frightening arsenal of weapons at his disposal and the worry-inducing nature of the games, but there was only ever going to be one outcome once the numbers had been whittled down to the three of them.

what had been far from certain, though, was how the two girls would resolve the quandary keeping countless viewers on the edge of their seats. were they really going to head straight to the afterlife hand-in-hand to prove a point to the capitol? was either of them going to pull off the ultimate betrayal, adding even more fuel to the flames already flickering vigorously with drama?

as it turned out, they did neither, at least initially. the happy couple seemed intent on enjoying the peace and quiet of the arena only left with two living souls, stretching lazily on open fields while soaking in the gentle sunlight, absolutely stuffing themselves with buttered croissants, potatoes and whatever else they had managed to scavenge from the fallen tributes. 

it was all too domestic, all too ridiculously normal, to the point where julia wondered if she was watching the hunger games or an abomination of a rom-com. of course, the illusion of happiness didn’t last. while the capitol had received the romance narrative favourably enough, they weren’t going to be satisfied with watching two gorgeous girls frolicking around the arena as if it were their own personal playground.

just as expected, the capitol opened up their bag of tricks in an ultimately futile attempt to spice the spectacle up. what they clearly had not and probably could never have anticipated was the extent to which their investment in jon would backfire. armed with flamethrowers, grenades, sickles (all of which were meant to kill them!), ryujin and yuna incinerated armies of tracker jackers, mutilated jabberjays and blew up meticulously designed zones of booby traps entirely. they were making the capitol look silly.

and the capitol cannot bear losing face. two girls with seemingly superhuman staying power and will were wiping the floor with their killer mutts? why not just deprive them of the opportunity to retaliate at all? undoubtedly bending the rules, but hey, they totally could.

unstoppable forces of destruction were unleashed, with a blazing inferno that chased the girls relentlessly at a searing pace the first warning that shit was about to go down. before they could even recover from the fiery assault, still gasping for air, choking on residual smoke and nursing burns of varying severity, what could only be described as a hurricane barraged into their territory. the destructive gales of wind swept them up as if they were weightless petals and hurled them far away to the outskirts of the arena. 

even the capitol’s state-of-the-art drone cameras took a considerable while to identify the whereabouts of the two girls, with the arena in a state of complete disarray and devastation after the rampage of the (man-made) natural disasters.

and when they did, julia had practically been able to visualise the bewilderment and panic spreading amongst the gamemakers like wildfire. the camera, as it was programmed to, trained unerringly onto the couple, zooming in to capture a picturesque frame of the two girls holding hands right on the edge of a cliff.

as they gazed into the distance wordlessly, ryujin smiled wistfully, before breaking the silence gently.

“you know, the extent to which i’ve fallen for you is far greater than this fall could possibly be.”

yuna giggled. “yeah, i was surprised, it only hurt a little. must’ve been because we fell together.”

ryujin proceeded to take a small, tentative step towards the gaping abyss. “then if we take the plunge together once more, this fall should be no problem, right?”

“yup, especially since i’ve been completely sucked in by your gravity. the earth’s gravity can do me harm no more!” yuna turned to face ryujin, leaned in for a chaste kiss, before they turned to face the vast horizons, faces set in determination.

“3...2...1!”

julia held her breath.

the television screen turned black just as yuna and ryujin’s knees were bent, ready to take flight.

the capitol had sprung into action far too slowly. as much as they would undoubtedly attempt to cover it up and shove it under the carpet, it was an open secret at best.

and then there were none.

~

that’s what the entirety of panem thought. julia included, of course. everyone had turned against the capitol leadership, even the sheltered people of the capitol. it was rather laughable just how malleable the views, beliefs and morals of those fascinating human beings were. one moment they were salivating hungrily over the prospect of tributes ripping each other’s heads off in a bloody battle for supremacy, the next moment they were protesting vehemently against the capitol’s alleged brutality and inhumane actions that forced their two heroines to take their own lives.

panem was in an utter state of chaos, air bombardments were practically as common as bird droppings at this point, and if not for the fact that the capitol ringleaders never bombed the houses at each district’s victor’s village (presumably to not incite any feeling of resentment among proven capable beings), julia would probably be dead by this point.

as it was, she was one of the fortunate few souls still able to live a life of relative security and comfort, and she was finally able to fully appreciate the cutting-edge capitol technology installed in every single mansion within the village. it was practically criminal how a feast could appear before her at the mere snap of her fingers while the pitiful common folk out in the war zones were feeding on scraps, but that summed up life in a nutshell. to say life was unfair would be an understatement, but julia wasn’t exactly altruistic or self-sacrificial enough to risk her wellbeing for the benefit of others.

she was more than content to live within the little bubble in the confines of her own home, clinging onto the pretence of happiness while shoving the knowledge that the bubble was perpetually precariously close to popping far to the back of her mind.

and so she really didn’t want to pick up the call.

a video call from an unknown number? it could be the capitol unceremoniously ordering her to pack her bags and join the rest of the desolate peasants on the war-torn streets, it could be them attempting to sweet-talk her into aiding them in their dirty work…

it was as if julia were being forced to open a pandora’s box, releasing a million different possibilities with only a singular eventual outcome. her precious bubble bursting.

maybe if i cooperate with them fully they’ll see me as friend instead of foe…(julia had always been good at lying to herself)

too late. the pandora’s box had been opened. julia waited with bated breath as the connection was established, before her jaw literally dropped as an all-too-familiar face materialised on her tablet screen.

julia was gaping dazedly at shin ryujin herself.

~

julia had a lot to take in and internalise. by the time she hung up, she was so overwhelmed with shock, disbelief, amazement and joy that she just slumped onto her bed weakly, her mind still fitting all the pieces of the puzzle together.

she thought long and hard about the butterfly effect. in an alternate reality, the cameras don’t cut, the entirety of panem discovers the two girls are in the midst of an ingenious escape from the jaws of death and they become fugitives for life whom the capitol will stop at nothing to apprehend and kill viciously.

instead, every reckless decision made by the capitol somehow played completely into the girls’ favour. they had intended to head to the edge of the cliff all along, and the capitol’s hurricane only served to aid them in reaching their destination well ahead of schedule. the cameras captured the ‘parting words’ of the perfect couple faced with a necessarily tragic ending, only to crucially be cut off by the flustered capitol before the girls sprang into action.

it allowed for the execution of the perfect crime. no one witnessed the deployment of the striking red parachute which altered the trajectory of their fall from fatal to gentle. no one witnessed their composed landing into the dense, mysterious woods few dared venture into for fear of getting mauled by wild beasts. no one could possibly imagine that they were still alive and kicking.

and not only were they surviving, they were thriving. yuna, being the resourceful prodigy that she was, had managed to work her magic on the various perplexing capitol devices such that they had full access to capitol secrets and communication platforms. they were fully aware of the full-scale uprising against the capitol, and they planned to add huge doses of fuel to the fire already threatening to engulf the capitol.

after all, if the legacy they had left behind was so impactful that they had essentially been immortalised as martyrs of the rebellion, how much more convincing would they be in person, having risen from the grave to act as figureheads championing the cause?

julia didn’t think she was worthy of being the individual the two girls sought out to publicise their inexplicable reappearance, but it wasn’t as if her role even mattered. the knockout blow was imminent, and the capitol wouldn’t even know what hit them.

ladies and gentlemen, presenting to you shin ryujin and shin yuna. even death couldn’t do them part, they are back with a vengeance.

game over.

(in more ways than one).

**Author's Note:**

> hello this is my first ever work so i’ll appreciate all and any feedback! i’m not entirely sure about all the exact procedures of the original hunger games so some of what i’m writing will just be left to imagination 
> 
> in the next chapter: the games begin!


End file.
